


Soon We'll be Found

by Camii23



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Complete, Dancer Stiles, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M, Malia is Derek's kid this is a warning, Misunderstandings, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Top Derek, multi-chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-03-23 11:57:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 66,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3767269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camii23/pseuds/Camii23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Derek is a desperate dad with a 6-year-old dancing on the coffee table, Stiles is basically the child whisperer and both dad and daughter get cute crushes on him.<br/>Cue said child whisperer/dance instructor falling for a certain dance dad (Lydia, he's not a dance dad, stop it), who's obviously getting married in a couple of months, because that's the obvious answer when the hot dad asks for private Waltz lessons.<br/>Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> FAIR WARNING: Malia is 6 years old and Derek's child in this fic, okay? Just the heads up, that's why I didn't tag her as a character because people might find this fic while looking for others with Malia as seen in the show and I don't want to ruin that search!
> 
> Warning #2: This fic will feature a number of links to youtube videos according to what the story is describing, bear with me, you will see lots of kpop choreographies and dance clips in general.
> 
> Title of the fic taken from Sia's beautiful song, be sure to check it out!
> 
> Rating will change as the story moves forward, of course!

"Daddy, I'm not sure I want to do this."

Derek looked back at his daughter, her eyes looked around the place, at the various machines and people working out. Her left hand was covering her mouth in a clear sign of nervousness.

"We talked about it, we come and watch the class and you decide if you want to come again, yes? If you don't like it, we find a new place."

"Yes, but what if they don't like me?"

"I'll wear my Halloween custom from two years ago and traumatize six-year-olds."

"You won't be mad at me, daddy?"

Derek sighed and went to her to grab her little hand, she was trembling a bit. It was amazing how shy his daughter could get in front of others when at home she was basically a tornado. "Of course I won't be mad at you. And I'm sure there are other places we can try, we'll go see all of them until you find one that you like."

"Okay..." she walked with him passed the training room, looking curiously at the people exercising around them. They had to take a lift to the fourth floor to get to the place they were looking for.

When they got out of the elevator, Derek was a little taken aback by the place, it looked nothing like the ground floor, which was a very high tech gym, filled with machines and personal trainers aggressively encouraging their clients to keep going. This place looked more like an old New York building, glass doors and rooms with mirror walls, people practicing in perfect synch and other rooms with people learning steps from a couple of teachers.

There was a whole wing of rooms with different music coming from each and Derek and his daughter walked a few steps until he -thanks to God- found a receptionist. When the girl raised her head and saw Derek, she smiled widely at him and asked in a friendly tone, "yes? Welcome to Lorraine's Studio, my name is Allison, how can I help you?"

"Daddy, I like that song!"

"Uh, yes... I'm here with my daughter, we came to see one of the dancing classes for kids. She'd like to watch this time, I was referred by a friend, Kira-"

"Oh, yes! She talked to me about you two, of course! You're just on time, the class she thinks will suit you guys starts in five minutes. Here you have some flyers of other classes that your daughter can take if she likes the place. We have special training plans for kids her age..."

Derek stood there looking at the flyers describing at least six different classes for kids, some of them looked amazing, there was even a class of self defense and martial arts for children -he would definitely talk about that with his girl if she wanted in a few years-, he had been so trapped by the desk girl's -Allison's- explanation of the schedule he never noticed the little girl leaving. She wasn't standing by his side anymore, "oh sh-..."

"Don't worry, I think she followed the music," Allison said, "Room C," she pointed at the third room on the left, following the big hallway, "there are chairs for parents in the back!"

"Uh- thank you... I'll come back and talk about membership if she likes it."

"Sure, no problem! Just come back here and I'll give you the paperwork, it's real quick."

"Yes, yes. Thank you."

When he entered Room C, he didn't expect to see a young man with his daughter, she was standing facing the other so she couldn't see Derek coming in. There were other kids stretching near the mirror, and some others playing around and jumping up and down.

"You came here by yourself?! You're so awesome, I never find anything at first, didn't you get lost?"

"I think I lost my daddy, I..."

"It's OK, let's go see if we see him around, sweetheart," the young man said, displaying a nice smile to her, he gave his hand and his daughter actually took it -that was impressive, his little girl was just like him, didn't trust people too easily-, "don't be scared, we'll find him in a second, start smiling if you don't want your face looking like this dude here."

The young man pointed at him.

He pointed at Derek as he said 'this dude here'. Right.

"Daddy!" 

"Oh..." the man said starting to blush a bit, clearing his throat and looking obviously embarrassed, "sorry, I didn't-"

"Daddy, he's the teacher! He was going to help me find you! He's nice!"

"I can see that," Derek raised an eyebrow, just to extend the young man's moment of embarrassment, he smirked at him.

"Uh, right, yes, you can uh..."

"Sir, can we stay and watch your class?" his daughter's question made the other sober up and he looked at her with a new expression of friendliness.

"Sir? Call me Stiles, I've never been called sir in my life, and of course you can stay and watch with your... daddy."

Derek could swear he saw the other's ears blush.

"Anyway, my name is Stiles, this is the class for dance-whatever-you-feel-like, or as my boss likes to call it, Variety Dance. You can go sit in the back and watch and if you like it you can totally join us next time... I- I don't think I heard your name, sweetie."

"I didn't tell you," she giggled.

Derek saw his daughter _giggle_ at a stranger she just met five minutes ago. This guy was probably a child enchanter.

Or maybe it helped that he looked young and friendly enough and therefore he was less intimidating in children's eyes.

"Do I get to hear it, princess?" the guy teased and winked at her.

"It's Malia," the little girl said with a smile in her tiny face. Derek was taken aback. "I'm six, this is my daddy, he laughs sometimes, I promise."

"Oh..." the man glanced at him and back at Malia, probably not really sure how to answer to that, "that's a beautiful name, Malia, nice to meet you and your daddy."

"Let's go sit so Mister... _Stiles_ can start the class," Derek stretched his hand for Malia to take it, she nodded and went with him, Derek sat on one of the empty chairs while Malia sat on the floor, hugging his leg with her arms, just the way she was used to do.

They watched as the class started, this Stiles guy was really good with kids, and when one of them lost pace or forgot a certain step he stood by their side and helped them until they pulled it off. He never once got mad at them for not paying enough attention and taught patiently when a new step came into the choreography. Stiles, above all -according to Derek- made all the kids laugh.

Malia, on the other hand was looking with all her attention at the class, she smiled when the entire group danced in sync to the music and grabbed at Derek's pant when she saw a cool step she probably would try at home.

As the class ended, Stiles looked a little tired and the kids started sitting on the floor, some parents started flowing through the door to pick their children and many went to greet Stiles, who would talk excitedly to them, explaining how well their kids had done.

Derek noticed the young man smiling and nodding politely at them whenever they complimented his work, when they told Stiles how their sons and daughters had started behaving at home after months of dance lessons.

That gave Derek hope. It wasn't like Malia was too much work, she had never misbehaved at school, on the contrary, she was a little too shy and it was hard for her to make new friends. Derek had tried talking to the teacher, tell her that it was just the way his daughter was, that he couldn't push her into being more sociable if she didn't want to but the woman had recommended him to find help, referred him to a shrink after she found Malia sitting alone in the play yard.

The thing was Malia didn't have a problem -according to Ms. Morell, the therapist that Malia saw-, it was just that she had trouble making friends, which was perfectly normal for a girl her age and there was actually another issue: her best friend had moved out of the city and that had crushed her heart last year. Derek could never forgive how his heart ached when his little daughter cried into his chest because she missed Lily. Malia had cried for days, and a week after that she stopped talking to the other kids at school, and the following months Derek had to start taking her to Ms. Morell.

"Daddy, can we talk to Mr. Stiles?"

Derek stood up with his daughter, who was holding his hand now, trying to lead him to where Stiles was still saying good bye to people.

"Did you like the class?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, you want to dance here with the other kids and Mr. Stiles next week?"

"Yes!" Malia actually jumped to show her excitement.

Derek couldn't help smirking at that. "Are you completely sure we should give it a try?"

"Yes, daddy, please!"

Okay, so they were going to do this. Derek hoped this was the one, they had tried another two but were too classic and strict to his taste, after all Malia liked dancing for fun.

He never noticed how they came to stand by the dance teacher.

"Hey! So, what do you think, Malia?" Stiles asked Malia when the last kid left, "wanna give me a second chance?" he winked at her.

The girl nodded eagerly and smiled at Stiles, "daddy, tell him!"

"My daughter wants to know is she could come again and be a part of the group next week, you made an impression, she's jumping up and down."

"Dad!" Malia tugged his hand and then hid behind it, embarrassed by Derek's words.

Stiles smiled brightly and nodded at them both, "of course you can! I'll be waiting for you on Tuesday!"

Malia smiled shyly at him from behind her father's arm. This Stiles was getting to her quickly.

"I'll go back to the receptionist to see the program, if that's okay."

"Oh, yes, right... I think Andrea is already back at the desk."

"Andrea?... I thought her name was uh... Allison?"

"Allison is the yoga instructor, she was covering Andrea but she should be back by now."

"Oh, okay, thanks."

"You're welcome, Malia's dad," Stiles smiled and hesitated a bit after that, Derek could swear he saw him blush a bit, "and I uh... I'm sorry for earlier, I didn't mean to insult your face."

"No problem. It's Derek, by the way."

"Sorry?"

"My name. Derek Hale."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'm a little distracted." Stiles laughed nervously and blushed harder. "Anyway, you can go to the front desk down the hallway, Andrea will help you with the paperwork and give you the schedule."

"Okay, thank you."

"See you soon, princess Malia!" Stiles waved at Malia as Derek and her left the room.

"Thank you Mr. Stiles," the girl mumbled timidly.

Derek grinned and took his daughter to the front desk to find a green-and-teal-haired girl answering the phone with a smile on her face.

"Daddy, look, her hair is so pretty!" Malia whispered to him as they approached, sounding excited and gleeful.

Derek immediately felt like this was the best decision ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Apparently this Stiles guy was the sweetest, smartest, funniest dance instructor in life and his six-year-old daughter had the biggest crush on him. Or something like that."

It had taken only two more weeks for Derek to start thinking about giving Kira an actual present for referring him to the Lorraine's Study. Malia looked happy and energetic, in a good not-tearing-the-place-apart way. She would always bounce up and down when Derek picked her from school to take her to dance lessons and wouldn't stop talking about the new steps Stiles was teaching them _-"Daddy, he's awesome, he's the most awesome person! And he's an awesome dancer! You have to see him dance!"-_

Apparently this Stiles guy was the sweetest, smartest, funniest dance instructor in life and his six-year-old daughter had the biggest crush on him. Or something like that.

Derek wouldn't deny the guy was pretty cute, he was probably much younger than Derek though, but was great with kids, he could see that every time he went to pick Malia after lessons. She actually hugged Stiles to say goodbye (which was weird, Malia never hugged anyone outside their family), and she waved when she reached Derek. His daughter went on and on about how Stiles helped her work with a hard step, how he would pay all the attention to her when she needed it and how they played a foot game so she could loosen up and be more confident about her skills.

This Stiles had to be totally great for Malia to get a crush in such a short time, to be honest, and Derek was going to _kick his ass_ , because Malia had started to ask for buns and cute braids and God knew Derek had no idea how to braid hair, last time he had practiced on Cora, she had punched him in the guts leaving Derek thinking he would be the worst single father ever.

"M, you know I can't do braids, maybe we could ask aunt Cora next time?"

"But I want one now, it would keep my hair out of the way!" she said pouting, getting ready for the next lesson. Malia changed into more comfortable clothes in the car while Derek parked to get something to eat.

"If it's better, we can ask someone to cut it," Derek teased.

" _Daddy no_." she said dead serious, Derek knew there was no way she would let him cut her hair, she loved long hair and bullying Cora into braiding it, he was only teasing to see that funny face on her like he had proposed to shave her entire head.

"Fine. If it's more comfortable for you I can tie it into a bun, but please don't make me braid, you'll end up crying again." Derek left the empty bags in the back seat after they were done and helped Malia get her long hair out of her clothes.

"It's okay, daddy, I'll ask aunt Cora on Friday," Malia settled on that option -thanks to Derek's nerves-, "can you make me a bun? Please?"

"Sure thing, but make sure you drink all the orange juice this time." Derek took one of the hair ties Malia kept in the glove compartment and tried his best gently pulling her hair into a high bun as she requested.

"Do I look good, daddy?" she turned around and fixed the short locks of dark blond hair that fell around her face behind her ear.

"You look better than good," he started the car to drive up to the dance school.

"You say that because you're my dad."

"I'd never lie to you, kitty."

"Dad! Don't call me that!"

"Yes, sorry, you're too old for that," Derek sighed in defeat, he used to call Malia that because her eyes were sharp but adorable at the same time, and stopped a few months ago because she claimed not to be a little girl anymore.

Derek didn't want to know how she would be when she was fourteen. Those were thoughts that belonged in Derek's nightmares.

When they got to the dance school, Derek got Malia's backpack and got off the car, quickly circling the vehicle to get her.

"Hi, Malia!"

Derek raised his head and looked behind him, a girl Malia's age was waving her hand and smiling at his daughter.

"Hi, Debby," Malia waved back gingerly and smiled softly at the her as she went inside the building with her mother.

"New friend?" Derek asked cautiously when they went inside too.

"She's in class too but comes only once a week. She says she likes Miss Lydia's class more."

"Who's Miss Lydia?"

"She's Stiles' friend and teaches classic dance, and she's _so_ pretty, daddy!"

"Is she?" they got to the elevator and Derek looked at the time, they were a little early this time. Malia was always so eager to get there. "We might have to wait a bit, M, we're early."

"It's okay, we can go see Stiles dance in the other room!"

Derek greeted Andrea and followed his daughter to the last room in the hallway, the one that was all glass and mirrors in one of the walls. They stood there watching a group of people rehearsing a complicated choreography. It didn't take him too much to spot Stiles.

He was wearing a red graphic tee and gray sweatpants that looked a little bit too big for him. Stiles looked determined to get the indications right while a pretty red-haired girl was standing by his side, casually hugging him from behind while listening to a tall blond young man giving instructions.

"Daddy, look, that's Stiles!" Malia pointed behind the glass, "and that's Lydia, she's hugging him, they're good friends."

"They look like good friends." Derek kept looking at Stiles, who had started smiling while practicing a few moves with his arms.

When the blond guy stopped talking, they all got into position and music started playing. First there was a rhythmic whistle followed by a beat, It sounded sexy and R&B, something similar to Michael Jackson.

Stiles was standing facing the mirror and the red-haired petite girl -Lydia- was facing the other way behind him while he marked the steps with his hand. Derek hadn't noticed how ridiculously tall were the heels Lydia was wearing, they looked kind of weird paired with black leggings but he supposed she had to rehearse with those on, Derek didn't think someone could just go and dance with ten inches high heels. [As Stiles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbQKoOo_zqA%20trouble%20maker) kept showing a couple of dance moves that Derek supposed were part of the choreography, Malia started to skip excitedly, she was smiling and enjoying the demonstration a lot. A few seconds more and after Stiles delicately touched Lydia's back, she turned around and they started dancing together to the beat of the music.

They were incredibly in sync, the sexy sound of the song marked by their elegant steps and their chemistry when they were merely standing close to each other.

The choreography was a little too sexy for Derek's taste if Malia and a couple of other kids where watching but they, at age six, didn't really see the sexual appeal of the performance. There was what Derek guessed was a chorus where Lydia had to stand in front of him, almost glued to each other and danced to the song (Derek couldn't recognize the language, probably Chinese or Korean)  and Stiles' hands would go to the girl's hips to recreate the illusion of him seducing her through the dance.

If Derek had to be completely honest to himself, it was kind of working. For him.

He blushed at the internal confession, but then decided it had to be the effect of the show Lydia and Stiles were giving. There was a moment in which they almost kissed after he trailed his mouth through her stretched arm and Derek had to gulp at that. He just couldn't take his eyes off the couple.

Derek didn't notice when the other dancers took position and followed the dance with them, there was a solo part for Lydia that finished by circling Stiles and grabbing at him and then led to Stiles' solo part in which he moved in a way Derek would have never imagined looking at the skinny young man with long limbs. He could move his hips to the song and make someone wolf whistle -Derek never knew who that was because _he couldn't really take his eyes off the two in the middle_ \- at him as he and Lydia danced together again.

They were both incredibly talented, Lydia could dance in those heels as if she was barefoot and Stiles was so graceful and light he made it look smooth and in sync like the other dancers couldn't. But according to Derek what made it all more entertaining was the undeniable chemistry between the dance instructor and the red-haired girl, they looked at each other as if they were a real couple -which Derek suspected was a fact- and flirted like it was the most natural thing to do.

There was another solo dance for Stiles as Lydia stood away from the imaginary stage and then she strode back in as a supermodel would in a runway to finish the choreography in a  very provocative pose, they were facing each other and simulated -Derek wanted to think they were simulating, really, for the sake of _Malia's_ crush on her dance teacher, of course- a kiss that made his daughter squeal in delight.

Malia and some other kids and moms started clapping, which made the dancer smile and break apart when the music stopped. Stiles waved at Malia and she couldn't get any happier. Derek rolled his eyes and took his daughter away from the door to let people out.

"Princess Malia, you're early!" Stiles said as he and Lydia came out of the rehearsal room.

"I saw you dancing with Miss Lydia, you're awesome," Malia said slightly blushing, the red-haired by Stiles side smiled at her politely and then gave Derek a look that had the single father furrowing his eyebrows.

"See you after work, sweetheart," Lydia kissed Stiles in the cheek and walked away, still wearing those intimidating shoes. Derek started to think they might be weapons. Wouldn't be surprised if she already had stabbed someone with the glittery parts.

"Did you like that? We took it from Korean artists, Koreans are great dancers, did you know that?"

"I didn't!" Malia answered curiously, following Stiles into Room C where other children were already warming up.

Derek followed them too, listening to their conversation. Malia looked so interested in what Stiles had to say he didn't feel like interrupting their bonding over dance choreography.

"We can totally try and practice a new one today! I found one for you guys, you will love it!"

"See you later, M," Derek kissed Malia's forehead to get out of the way.

"Okay, daddy."

"Bye, Mr. Hale," Stiles said as Derek walked out of the room.

"It's Derek."

"Bye, Derek."

Derek turned around when Stiles said that, he didn't see Stiles' smile get a bit wider.

 

*

"Ow, ow, oh my god, stop that!"

"Sorry, just wanted to try if you could stretch further."

"I thought I was flexible enough."

"You are, but trust me, you can always be more flexible."

"There, there... ugh, you're amazing."

"Thanks!"

"You know, every time you do sex noises when you're doing yoga with my girlfriend my main concern is 'what do the neighbors think you're doing?'"

"That I'm practicing yoga with my brother's girlfriend, what else?" Stiles stood up and stretched with Allison by his side, Scott was drying his hair with a towel, sitting in the couch next to the yoga mat Allison had put for them to practice. Stiles never really had the time to do it at the school because Allison's class was always full and when she was free Stiles had work.

"Food's on the table, guys, let's eat, I'm starving." Scott left the towel hanging from an empty chair and sat next to Allison in the living room, closely followed by Stiles.

"So, are you telling us who are you stretching for?" Allison wiggled her eyebrows at Stiles.

"I'm eating," Scott said as he took a bite of his burrito, "I don't really want to know about my brother's sex life."

"No one! I'm not seeing anyone right now... not by choice anyway."

"What happened with that guy Ryan, though? He was cool."

"He was cool, yeah, cool enough to cheat on me." Stiles drank from his soda.

"What?" Allison and Scott asked in shock, Stiles hadn't told them about it.

"You didn't tell me! What happened? I'm going to kick him in the face." Scott said, very older brother like. Stiles was used to it; he might be taller but Scott was a personal trainer/almost-professional fighter, so yeah, he was much stronger than Stiles.

"No need, I think he's not coming to the gym anymore, he didn't plan on me finding out he was banging a brunette from Erica's class."

"Did you... see them together?" Allison asked with caution, patting his forearm in sympathy.

"I was looking for him and caught them dry humping in the lockers."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, you should have told me," Scott said, clearly angry at Ryan, probably imagining what it had been like for Stiles, "that's why you were so weird on Saturday, I thought you were just tired."

"I was."

"I'm sorry, bro."

"It's okay... he was probably too good to be truth."

"He's an asshole, I hope he shows up at the gym so I can kick his ass."

"I told him what he did was against the gym policy after he tried pulling the 'it's not what it looks like' on me... he must think me stupid, considering one of the girl's hand was inside his pants."

"I'll tell Andrea on Monday, they're getting banned from the gym," Allison said, putting tomato pieces on his plate.

"I already did that... I'm a resentful piece of shit," Stiles high-fived Scott who was nodding his head with his mouth full of burrito.

"No, no, no, he's the piece of shit, and you did the right thing, don't call yourself that."

Stiles smiled at Allison and she kissed his head, going for the ice cream in the fridge and declaring the night a snuggle-in-the-couch night. Scott put a dumb movie on and made him sit in the middle so he could get cuddled by both.

Sometimes Stiles said they were getting too old for that but last time Allison had stuffed his mouth with chocolate cookies and ice cream and Stiles never brought it up again.

"I deserve it for dating people who are way out of my league, it's ridiculous, I dance but trip on the stairs and have zero taste in clothes, I'm all fidgety, I used to be a hyperactive little shit and now I'm just a little shit and I talk too much, like now, but that's okay because you're my family."

"I like it when you talk a lot."

"You're my stepbrother, you're required by law to like it."

"No, I'm not. And stop bashing yourself like that, you're great, you'll find someone else."

"I just want someone who would have enough patience to listen to me and maybe do couple's yoga with since my brother is not a choice."

"Any other requirement?"

"Someone who's able to pick him up." Scott and Stiles answered at the same time, which made Allison laugh.

"Isaac can lift you, right?"

"Gross."

"That's a weird requirement."

"What can I say, I'm a dance teacher who performs a lot of queer versions of stuff, I like being manhandled."

"If you hang around the weightlifting area of the gym, I'm sure you can find someone." Scott smiled at him like he was giving him the best idea ever.

"Speaking of someone, how's the hot dad in your group?" Allison asked, smiling big at him. Stiles felt a little flushed to be honest. No idea why.

"Malia's dad? Oh, he's... okay? Not very talkative? I think you've talked more with him than I have."

"You're blushing."

"No, I'm not!"

"You are." Scott supported Allison after tilting his head to see Stiles' face.

"Shut up!" Stiles said, after clearing his throat he tried get some dignity back. "Whatever, he's really good looking, that's all."

"He is, I'll give you that," Allison nodded, taking another spoon full of ice cream, "he's also young, I was with Andy when he went sign Malia up and saw his ID, he's like twenty-six or something-"

"You're kidding." Stiles said a little skeptical. Malia's dad looked definitely older than that.

"No, I swear, it surprised me a bit because he looks older with that stubble and a six-year-old but he's twenty six."

"Huh..."

"And he's single."

"Right." Stiles side-eyed Allison as Scott laughed.

They kept watching the movie after dropping the subject, but Stiles missed a really funny scene that made Allison and Scott burst out laughing.

If someone asked him, he was definitely not thinking about the hot dad in his group. Totally not thinking about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO much for reading and leaving comments and kudos, I'm so absolutely happy with how the first chapter was received by all of you guys, seriously thank you<3
> 
> I'm pretty sure the next chapters will be getting a little longer, so bear with me! I'm sorry for the shortness on these two lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: You can probably win Stiles' heart with coffee, Derek cannot do braids to save his life and Kira is a badass at dancing Queen BoA.
> 
> There's a weird summary.

"Okay, guys, let's start today's lesson-" Stiles instructed, the kids going to their position obediently, he stopped when Malia got closer to him, her dad walking by her side, "yes?"

"Hi, Stiles," Malia said with a sweet smile.

"Hi, princess, ready for today's dance?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! Go put your bag with the others and take position."

Malia nodded and obeyed, giving a meaningful look to her dad.

"Is everything okay?" Stiles asked him, Derek wasn't leaving like he always did.

"Yes, yes, everything, I was uh... wondering if- well... if it's too much trouble I'll find someone else who can-"

"Sorry, Mr. Hale but I'm not following," Stiles tried to sound relaxed but Derek all awkwardly trying to ask something was actually kind of adorable.

"It's Derek," Derek repeated and then cleared his throat, "I have work to do now and I probably won't make it on time to pick Malia, I wouldn't have brought her but she really wanted to come, and I was wondering if uh... you could look after her for a while after class? If you can't do it, I'll just ask someone else to pick her up, I-"

"No! Of course I can, I have rehearsal after this class but she can stay with me and watch, she likes that, I gather," Stiles winked at him but immediately regretted it as Derek looked the other way. Too familiar? Maybe. Derek Hale didn't look very expressive, probably didn't like to be treated as a friend by random dance instructors.

"I- I thank you, I wouldn't ask if I had another option."

"It's okay, it's no problem at all, trust me, she's very well behaved."

"She clearly wants to impress you." Derek deadpanned, which made Stiles snort. "Anyway, thank you, again, I promise it won't be longer than an hour, if I can't make it, my sister will pick her up, I just don't want her to be on her own around here for long."

"I understand, it's okay. I'm usually here until eight on Thursdays so it won't be a problem."

"Thank you, I appreciate it, I wouldn't ask if Malia didn't like you so much." Derek said, still awkward. Stiles thought that he wasn't used to talk so much.

"She's a sweet girl." Stiles answered politely and ended Derek's pain by addressing the kids, "kids, on your positions, let's stretch a bit."

Derek nodded and quickly went to whisper something on his daughter's ear, to which she eagerly nodded -and made Stiles smile and sigh in relief, he wasn't sure if Malia was okay with being in Stiles' care, but judging by her face after her dad said goodbye, she was more than okay with it.

Stiles made the kids jump up and down, crouch and stretch their legs and arms before they started their routine, every single one of them trying hard to get the steps right.

After their hour and a half of work, all the mothers started walking in to take their kids home, only Malia and Kyle -a boy her age who smiled big at him every single time and was very polite, funny and really nice to other children- remained there. Kyle was always last since his mom worked until six and took her a few more minutes to get there. Stiles remembered the first time mother and son walked into the room, both as nice as people could get. She asked if it was okay that Kyle came to class twice a week because he hadn't wanted to join a sport in school she had been very supportive when Kyle had asked to join a dance group lesson instead.

"I'm here! I'm here, thank you for always waiting, Stiles!" Vanessa Parrish rushed through the wooden floor of the room to get to Kyle, "ready, sweetie? Let's go."

Kyle waved Stiles and Malia goodbye and went with his mom, leaving both alone in the room, Stiles turned around and smiled down at Malia.

"Come, sweet princess, pick your royal bag and follow me into the adventure!" Stiles winked at her, which made her laugh and run to pick her stuff. Stiles usually had rehearsal in Room E, with ten minutes to kill in between so there was no rush, "want something to drink?"

"No, thank you, I'm okay," she said as they walked down the hallway, "are you going to dance with Miss Lydia today?"

"I'm not sure, you like how we dance together?"

"Yes! I loooove how you dance with her!" Malia said excitedly, but a second after that, something in her face changed, "is she your girlfriend?"

"My- oh. No, she's not my girlfriend. She's one of my best friends, actually, and I had the biggest crush on her when we were kids." Stiles told her as they entered the still empty Room E, they left their belongings in the back and Stiles sat on the floor to stretch a bit while Malia sat in front of him legs crossed paying full attention to him.

"You did?"

"I did, it was ridiculous, I thought I was going to marry her."

"What happened?"

"I got a new crush but on a boy."

"And he liked you back?" Malia asked, eyebrows arched high in curiosity.

"He did, and then he became my boyfriend and I started talking to Lydia without daydreaming about us being a couple and we became friends real fast."

"She seems nice, sometimes scary, but nice." Malia stated nodding her head and pulling her hair behind her ears, it had fallen out of her usual bun while practicing.

"Hey, do you want me to braid your hair? I'm totally awesome at that, Lydia taught me."

"You can do braids? Yes, please!" Malia happily pushed herself in front of Stiles giving him her back, "my daddy doesn't know how to do braids, he always tells me about that time he tried learning on my auntie's hair when I was a little baby and he made her cry and never tried again."

Stiles held his laugh. Picturing big brooding hot dad Derek Hale trying to braid his sister's hair and failing miserably at it was too funny. Instead, he focused on untangling Malia's soft light brown hair and carefully braiding it. He had learned to be careful with Lydia, who had the thinnest hair on earth and would rip his eyes off if he ever pulled it too much.

"I only know how to do the common braid but at least they look okay. Done!" he said when he was finished, the girl turned around and looked at her reflection on the big mirror in the room, smiling brightly at him, "you look super pretty."

"Thank you," Malia ran back to him and gave him a hug, putting her arms around Stiles' neck -easier task due to his current position sitting on the floor.

"You're welcome, princess." Stiles smiled at her as he felt something warm inside of him, he remembered when not a month ago this girl had come into his group all shy and reluctant to contact with the other kids and now she had a new friend -Debby, the little red-haired girl who went to Lydia's class and to his once a week- and didn't shy away from others when they talked to her. She even agreed to being paired up with Robbie for an assignment.

"Hi, babe," said Lydia, walking towards them with flats on, a pair of high heels hanging from her hand, "we have company today?"

"We do, remember Malia?" Stiles and Malia stood up, "she's staying with us until her dad picks her up, she likes how we dance together."

"She has excellent taste," Lydia smirked and winked at Malia, who blushed a bit and touched the locks of hair that fell around her face as people started to come inside, Isaac and Kira were last.

Malia obediently sat in one of the chairs back but when she saw Isaac and Kira she stood up and went to hug the girl as if she had known her for a long time.

Stiles remembered he had heard something about Kira being the one who told Derek about the dance school.

"Kira! You're here!"

"M! I didn't know you'd be here! Are you lost? Is Derek late? Oh my god, do you want me to call Cora or-"

"No, it's okay, I'm here with Stiles, Daddy asked him to take care of me until he got here."

"Oh! Hi, Stiles!" Kira greeted Stiles with a bright smile, Malia was now holding her hand, they probably knew each other a lot, "Cora didn't tell Derek I was going to be here? She's picking me up in an hour or so if you want to come with us."

"Okay, we can call Daddy, yes?" Malia asked, looking between Stiles and Kira.

"If he hasn't come before we're finished, we can call him, princess," Stiles granted, looking for Kira's approval, after all she was more likely to have a say about Malia than he had.

"Sure! Go sit back there and watch then, you'll love this one," Kira pointed at the chairs in the back of the room so they could start.

The little girl went and sat on the floor like she used to do (apparently she didn't like chairs)

This time the choreography was [Eat you Up by BoA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LOWZhBp7Q), a Korean singer who had released a few songs in the US and who was -according to Stiles- one of the best Korean dancers he had seen. Stiles loved this performance mainly because it involved Kira, who was a sweet, quirky girl who transformed into a dancing machine when music played.

He went back with Isaac and other three men that formed the back dancers for this choreography. Lydia was standing in front of them to see everything looked organized and polished.

Stiles made sure to look at Malia on the mirror to check how she was doing, and it made his heart warm every time because there wasn't a moment she looked bored, Malia looked with all the attention she could give and even tried to move her little feet to the rhythm a little self-conscious with so many actual dancers in there.

She was such a sweet girl, honestly.

The rehearsal passed quick and without many mistakes, the hardest parts where when they had to switch position, of course, at first Kira and him would bump against each other by the end of the song because they failed to calculate the distance between them, but after a couple more tries they achieved perfection and everyone clapped. Especially Malia in the back.

Stiles checked the time, it had been an hour and fifteen minutes and Derek hadn't showed up, which started to make him a little nervous. What if something had happened to him?

As people started to leave the room, Malia went to his side while he used a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, "he's not here yet," she said, sounding a little nervous.

"Cora!" Kira said before Stiles could answer Malia.

A girl who looked around his age entered the room and looked around, when she heard his name she lifted her hand to say hi with a little smirk. She was wearing a leather jacket, jeans and boots but her face said "Hale" all over it. In Stiles very poor experience.

Kira rushed to her side and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, and as soon as the girl -Cora- saw Malia, she waved and beamed at her.

Malia ran to her and Cora quickly crouched to open her arms for Malia. It was a very cute picture in Stiles' opinion.

"Cora!! Daddy couldn't make it?" Malia was now hanging from Cora's neck. Stiles had to wonder where did all the strength come from, considering Cora was not even an inch taller than Lydia, and Lydia with no heels was _tiny_.

"He called when I was getting here, he'll be here any minute now, don't worry, baby," Cora smiled at her and then looked at Stiles, "thanks for taking care of her, I'm Cora, this pup's aunt," she stretched her hand to shake Stiles, who immediately accepted it.

"Cora, Stiles is a dancer like Kira and he's awesome!"

"I suppose he is, he's your teacher," Cora teased, now Malia on her back. She didn't even flinch when the little girl got on her back, she must be very used to it.

"Oh! You're Kira's girlfriend, of course!" Stiles slapped his head when he realized. He had heard Kira speak of a girlfriend with a name that rhymed with hers, and it all made sense now if Kira had been the one to refer Derek to the place, that's how they knew each other. "Sorry didn't catch that before."

"It's fine."

"Kira makes cupcakes," Malia told Stiles from Cora's back, with her little arms around her aunt's neck.

"I know, those are the greatest," Stiles answered, Kira's cupcakes were seriously the best.

He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his forearm, he had completely forgotten about Lydia who was still in the room.

"You're coming?" she asked Stiles.

"In a minute," Stiles hadn't even finished his answer when Derek appeared in the room, looking a little flustered, probably from running.

"Hi, Daddy!" Malia cheered with her hands up, Cora securing her position by grabbing her niece.

"Hi, M, sorry I'm late," he said apologetically to Stiles, "ready to go?" now he addressed his daughter.

"Yes! Thank you, Stiles, see you on Saturday," she waved from Cora's back, "Daddy, can you get my backpack, please?"

"Sure," Derek walked through the room and picked the bag, Stiles noticed he had a cup of coffee on his right hand. When Derek fetched the bag, he turned around and before he got out of the room, he handed Stiles the cup of coffee, "for your trouble."

Stiles was caught so off guard he probably blushed a bit. Probably.

"Oh. I- thank you!" he took the cup from Derek's hand, which was as warm as the cup, "you really didn't have to, she's no trouble at all."

"You haven't been with her when she's bored." Cora deadpanned, she was looking at him with a weird expression on her face, something between unimpressed and amused that Stiles couldn't catch.

"I didn't know what you liked so I got you a latte, I hope it's okay." Derek said, ignoring Cora.

"It is, I love latte." Stiles answered and his heart jumped a bit. Wow. _Wow this man_ , _with his adorable daughter and intimidating sister and gallant coffee_. "Uh, thank you." Stiles said after Lydia cleared her throat.

"No, thank you." Derek smiled at him awkwardly, like he wanted to get out of there soon, maybe Lydia's pointed look made him uncomfortable, or he had caught on something Stiles had done or said that made him look like a twelve-year-old crushing on a boy. Probably that. Stiles was an expert at making things weird. Embarrassingly so. "Let's go, M, say goodbye."

"Goodbye, Stiles! Goodbye, Miss Lydia!" Malia said from Cora's back. Her aunt still not affected by her niece's weight.

Kira and Cora waved too and disappeared into the hallway followed by Derek, who gave him and Lydia one last look and went.

"Huh..." Lydia simply said after they were alone.

Stiles didn't answer, he just caressed the warm paper cup in his hand biting the inside of his mouth.

 

*

Derek marched by Cora's side who still had Malia on her back, Kira talking excitedly to his daughter about the choreography she had seen.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he murmured to Cora, who had been giving him weird looks all the way to the parking lot.

"Nothing." Cora rolled her eyes and put Malia down, "one day you'll obviously be taller than me and then you'll have to carry me around, M."

"I want to be tall like Daddy!"

"If you keep growing like this, you will," Cora got her keys out and opened the car for Kira to get in after saying their goodbyes, she waited until Malia was circling the car and hugging Kira to talk to Derek, "I don't think I ever saw you bring coffee to Malia's teachers."

"He did us a favor, I was being nice." Derek argued. It was the polite thing to do, right?

"Right."

"Whatever do you mean with that look?"

"Nothing, bro. I guess he's kinda cute," she finished in a low voice, getting into the car and driving away when Malia had taken her father's hand.

"Daddy, see what Stiles did?" Malia jumped in front of him as they approached their car.

"Yes, he was- what?"

"Look!" Malia turned around and showed her neatly done braid to him, she looked really cute with it. Derek wished that was something he could do for his daughter. "He did it for me before practice, you like it? He said I look super pretty."

She did. She looked super pretty in Derek's honest absolutely not biased fatherly opinion.

"You do, he's right." Derek opened the door for Malia to get in and left her bag in the backseat. When he got on the car, he heard noise coming from behind, as he turned around he saw Stiles and Lydia walking across the parking lot.

While he slowly drove the car off the lot, he saw them holding hands and walking together as a couple would, relaxed and happy. Stiles even opened the door for her and she smiled sweetly at him.

Derek sighed and drove away, Malia oblivious in her seat, playing with the tablet he used for work.

 

*

"You want me to leave you at Jackson's?"

"No, my place. He's busy finishing an assignment, I don't want to distract him."

Stiles snorted, as usual, Jackson surrounded by books was a funny mental image. "Okay."

"So..."

Stiles arched his eyebrows and side-eyed Lydia, she always used that tone with him when she had something planned. "What?"

"This dance dad, Malia's dad."

"What about him?" Stiles kept his eyes on the road.

"Exactly."

"What?" Stiles gave her a quick glance, "look, I know what you're thinking, but trust me, there's nothing going on, you're seeing things."

"Stiles, you're the smartest person I know, please don't insult my intelligence."

"I swear, Lydia, there's nothing there, he was being nice, in fact, what you saw back there was the longest conversation we've had since Malia started attending my class."

"But you'd like it to be more?"

Stiles snorted, "don't be ridiculous."

"He's hot, for a dance dad," Lydia smirked.

"He's not a dance dad, he's a dad, who has a daughter who dances... but he's not that kind of dad." Stiles sighed, pushing the memory of Derek all awkwardly trying to thank him for taking care of Malia to the back of his mind. "He _is_ hot, though."

"You need a distraction."

"I'm done with distractions, thank you."

"Are you sure? I could introduce you to-"

"Nope, thank you."

"Fine. Call Cait then."

"Nah, she's seeing someone, it's kinda serious."

"Oh. Good for her."

Stiles saw Lydia look down at the empty cup of coffee between both seats and prepared to be teased.

He was going to throw it out, okay? He was totally going to. It wasn't as if he was some kind of fourteen-year-old with a crush on someone _he barely even knew_.

That would be ridiculous.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, like I don't think I'll ever stop saying thanks to every single one of you who read and leave kudos and comments! You're all so sweet.  
> I saw you liked Trouble Maker on last chapter, here you have the absolute queen of kpop -in my humble opinion- and also, tell me what you think of these two dumb boys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malia likes to shove her father into uncomfortable situations, Derek is an honorable man who keeps his promises, no matter how embarrassing they might get. Oh, and Stiles has a very self-destructive personality. Shocker.  
> Also in this chapter: the misunderstanding tag will start flashing in neon lights for y'all. And... someone's getting married?! WHAT?!

"Daddy, what's wrong?" Malia asked, looking at him with a worried expression on her face while she ate her cereal.

"Nothing, M, I'm fine."

"You're not."

Derek picked his plate and glass and went to rinse them, purposefully hiding his face from his very perceptive daughter.

"I heard Aunt Laura last night, Daddy, it's okay."

Derek turned around to face her again, resting his body on the counter. "I've told you not to spy on adult conversations if you don't want to be scarred for the rest of your life."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Malia shrugged and put aside the empty bowl. "Are you worried about that? Aunt Laura's wedding?"

"It's just that-"

"I can teach you, daddy!"

Derek smiled at his daughter and went to kiss her forehead, grateful for her will to help, "thank you, kitty, but if I remember correctly, you don't know how to waltz."

"I can ask Stiles to teach me and then I'll teach you, I bet he says yes!"

"Uh... better not give him any trouble, I'll ask Cora."

"But Cora doesn't know how to dance, Kira says she has two left feet," Malia smiled and shook her head. She was right though, if Derek couldn't dance, Cora was an actual robot, Kira had no idea how to dance the Waltz, and Laura was busy enough to have to worry about him not being able to dance.

But she had made Derek promise he would, and Derek was not one to break promises. Also Laura would break his neck if he didn't at least try.

"Daddy, it's time to go!"

"Yeah, yeah... I wish you were this eager for school."

"Daddy, please, it's school _,_ they teach _Math_." She took her bag and waited for Derek to get out of the apartment.

"Hey, where is that attitude coming from?" Derek couldn't help smirking at Malia's eyeroll.

He had a slight suspicion on the source of that new sarcastic attitude. The pretty braids she had started showing off after practice were a _huge_ telling.

When they got to the building as usual on a Saturday, they went straight to the elevator and Derek cursed his luck: Lydia took the same one as them.

"Good morning, Miss Lydia," Malia greeted politely. The little kid could be really charming when she wanted to.

"Good morning, sweetheart, drop the 'miss', that's strictly for my ballerinas, I have to keep them in line," she winked, and it made Derek a little uncomfortable seeing how much it resembled the one Stiles always pulled.

"Okay... Lydia," Malia said the name hesitantly, probably the sound of it was too unfamiliar to her.

"That's better," Lydia looked up at Derek, who was probably two heads taller than her but didn't look a single bit intimidated -tiny people were terrifying, really-, "how are you, Mr. ...?"

"Derek, just Derek, no mister."

"Right. Derek," she smiled at him, and Derek had the feeling he was going through X-ray vision. Luckily the elevator opened the door for them to get off. "See you around."

Lydia walked away to one of the many rooms available, leaving Derek and Malia to their usual stroll to Room C, which was already filled with the group of kids playing around. Stiles wasn't in there though, he came in just mere seconds after them. When Malia spotted him, she ran to him to say hi.

"Hi, Stiles!"

"Hi, princess! We have energy today!" Stiles left his bottle of water on one side with his hoodie and instructed the kids to stretch a bit so they could start, "Hi, Mr. Hale."

"It's Derek." Stiles saw Derek frown, probably annoyed at the mistake Stiles always seemed to make. "Hi."

"Daddy, tell him!!"

Stiles arched his eyebrows at him, Malia seemed eager and Derek way too nervous for this to be a good idea.

"No, it's okay, I said I would manage-"

"If you need me to take care of her, I can do that today, I'll be here until after-"

"No, it's not that, it's okay, don't mind my daughter." Derek dismissed Malia, clearly embarrassed.

"Daddy!" Malia was having none of it, and told Stiles anyway, "Stiles, do you know how to dance the... the... dance you dance at a wedding?"

"A... a wedding?" Stiles' heart started to beat fast.

"Yes! My daddy has to learn the dance... what's called?"

"The waltz?"

"Yes! Do you know how to dance that?"

"I..." Stiles was having a hard time focusing on what Malia was asking, with Derek's troubled expression. A wedding? _Oh God_. "Yeah... I- I know how to dance it. Sure."

"Can you teach me so I can teach Daddy? He doesn't know how to and-"

"M, that's enough," Derek said in a weak voice, still gently addressing his daughter, "go stretch, I'll talk to Stiles."

Stiles looked up at him at the sound of his name on Derek's lips. He probably looked ridiculous, like a little kid whose candy had been stolen and hadn't reacted yet.

"Sorry about that, she's just worried I won't learn it on time."

"That's okay, she's smart..." Stiles answered on autopilot. _He's getting married, great._ Great. "She'd know who to ask."

"Yes. But don't mind her, I was actually going to ask you if there was a teacher available here that I could take classes with." Derek explained, stuttering a bit, clearly uncomfortable.

"I-... in fact-" _No, Stiles, no. This is a bad idea, what the hell are you thinki-_ "I could teach you."

"I wouldn't ask you that, you've done a lot already-"

"No, it's okay, I can teach you. And there's no way you'll find another dance instructor besides Lydia who can teach you proper Waltz and her schedule is already full anyway."

"Yours is not?"

"Not really. I have Saturday afternoon free and Thursday's rehearsals were moved later so I have an hour to spare after the kids, so we could work that out." Too eager? Maybe he sounded too eager, Derek was going to be weird out.

"I..." Derek sighed, very much like in defeat, "I can't help feeling like I'm taking advantage here. I'm going to pay for your time, I promise."

Stiles really wanted to refuse the money, but if he did it would be 100% weird, he was being asked to teach private lessons after all and the extra cash was always very welcomed. "Sure, if it makes you feel better. Come after class and we can talk schedule."

"S-sure, yes. Thank you. And I apologize for my daughter again, it's just that I don't dance, at all, and she was worried I wouldn't make it on time for the wedding."

"It's okay." Stiles decided to ignore every sentence with the word 'wedding' in it. "I'll go back to- the kids, yes, see you later."

"Okay." Stiles saw Derek standing there for another couple of seconds until he remembered he had to leave.

Stiles did his best to forget the tug on his heart for the following hour and a half, mentally kicking himself for agreeing to something so stupid and self destructive. This was going to end badly, for sure.

He shouldn't be feeling this way in the first place, he barely even knew Derek and he kind of didn't want to know how this man was actually like with familiar people around. Stiles was scared the little crush would turn into a medium-sized one. Okay, a big one.

Above all, Stiles was embarrassed this little crush of his had to do too much with the fact that Derek was absolutely _gorgeous_. Maybe gorgeous wasn't even enough to describe the man, he had a broad back, muscled arms (from what Stiles could gather, not that the casual Henleys  he wore on Saturdays would leave anything for him to imagine), these really great hazel eyes and a beard, _a beard_.

He was the full package of Stiles' fantasies. He loved men with beards, and greenish eyes and black hair. And Derek was a father. A great one according to Malia.

Stiles had this thing about fathers, he had slept with a single dad two years ago and could still feel his skin tingle at the memory. Michael had been fantastic, too bad everything had ended after he was transferred to some place in Colorado. He left with his twins (Stiles had babysat them a couple of times, little Tommy and Kev were a handful but liked playing with him) and a promise that if he ever came back he was definitely going to look for him.

Only Lydia, Scott and Allison knew about Michael, though, he had been barely eighteen when they started sleeping together and Michael had been twenty-eight and divorced, there wasn't any need for the public to know about it if he wanted to keep full custody of his kids.

If Stiles had met Derek in another place, another setting, under different circumstances and _not through his six-year-old daughter_ , he would be all over that. And there was the other little detail: Derek was not single. He was, in fact, getting married in a few months, judging by the urgency of Malia's request, and there was something Stiles didn't do and that was date and/or sleep with people who were taken in any form.

Stiles was brought back from his thoughts by Malia's voice and the shy tugging of the hem of his T-shirt. "Daddy will be here in a second. Thank you for saying yes."

"You're welcome. And you know what? It'll be great practice, I haven't danced the waltz in a couple of months."

Stiles told Malia to go sit while he said goodbye to the other kids and their mothers -Kyle as usual was the last, and Stiles saw with curious eyes the weird look the little boy gave Malia before leaving-.

"Do you know how to dance it, Malia?" Stiles asked, sitting on the floor in front of the girl.

"I saw it! Aurora and the Prince dance that in the movie, right?"

"Oh my god, I love the Sleeping Beauty waltz, it's my favorite, I'm totally dancing that one at my own wedding," he declared to the girl, who was now laughing at his childish excitement. "Anyway, that's one of the many pieces of waltz, yes. Do you know which one your dad and uh- _they_ are dancing?"

"No, they don't show it to me yet."

"Haven't," Stiles corrected her and the girl repeated in a lower voice.

"Hi, sorry, I'm a little late." Derek entered the room and both Malia and Stiles stood up. The little girl went to hug her father. "Thanks for waiting."

"Sure," Stiles smiled at him and went to grab his things, "so, did you think about the days?"

"Yeah, I can come after work on Thursdays and Saturdays after Malia's practice, you said?"

"Yes, I start my practice after three on Saturdays, so I can give you a space between one and three pm, sounds good?"

"Sure, yes. Thank you."

"I'll need you to tell Andrea to write the schedule down, so she knows who's coming after class on Thursdays and Saturdays, security issues."

"No problem." Derek said, taking Malia's backpack and offering her his hand.

"Well... when do you want to start?" Stiles asked, ignoring the nervousness he must have showed on his voice.

"Is next Thursday okay for you?"

Stiles nodded and waved at Andrea to let her know Derek was heading to the desk, "go tell Andy to write it down and I'll see you on Thursday. Wear something comfortable."

Stiles left father and daughter before he could back off and tell Derek to find someone else who could teach him how to dance. He had to stop with these thoughts. He had to be professional.

The guy was getting married and Stiles had to forget about this whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is shorter but it's actually more or less the same amount of Word pages... huh.
> 
> **
> 
> Stiles, what even are you thinking, buddy?
> 
> No k-choreography this chapter but awkward situations and misunderstandings, yay \o/  
> What could possibly go wrong, right?  
> RIGHT?
> 
> Thank you VERY much for reading and leaving kudos and/or comments, I feed off your words and appreciation<3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to 'Learn How to Waltz and not Embarrass Yourself in front of two hundred guests and family relatives 101'.

Thursday had come and class with the children was over fairly fast, Derek had found himself a little worried this whole idea of private waltz lessons would end up being totally awkward and weird and absolutely embarrassing. He didn't know how to dance, had barely even done it in his life (Derek was pretty positive jumping up and down on the bed at the age of twelve with his sisters bursting out Kryptonite didn't count as dancing) but Stiles seemed decent enough at this whole dancing instruction business.

Derek was also ignoring how nervous he felt of being completely alone with this guy for the first time. That, for some mysterious reason he would never ask himself, made him check three times the clothes he was wearing, change pants twice (finally he opted for worn out jeans that would serve for practice and a plain black shirt) and seriously consider the idea of shaving.

He decided against it because both Laura and Malia had told him he looked weird clean shaven. Derek had stopped doing it since that time Cora laughed in his face after he came out of the bathroom and Malia cried when she didn't recognized him. It's been four years since he last saw his face without a 2-day beard.

Cora had already texted him that she had picked Malia and was going to take her to eat something and take care of her while he was 'wearing the cute dance teacher's patience out one step at a time' when he entered the building. Probably had missed the girls for a few minutes.

Derek went straight to Room C where Stiles was drinking from a plastic bottle and turned around when he spotted Derek.

"Hi! Glad you're here." Stiles put the bottle down with his stuff and walked to Derek, smiling at him. "Welcome to 'Learn How to Waltz and not Embarrass Yourself in front of two hundred guests and family relatives 101'. So, I forgot to ask you, which waltz are you dancing?"

"There's more than one?" Derek asked truly confused, he had thought there was only one wedding waltz that people traditionally danced, "Oh, sorry, I didn't know there were-"

"It's okay, we can practice with the ones I have on my ipod, it's basically always the same step sequence but it'd be great if you practiced with the actual track, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll ask Laura and tell you which one's the one she wants." Derek took his wallet and phone out of his pockets and put them on a chair so he could be more comfortable. If Derek had to be honest, he felt like he was going to trip any time now.

"Okay..." Derek felt a shift on the other's voice for a moment but that was quickly gone as Stiles signed him to get closer to him. "So we'll start with the dance position, which is kind of the key for this thing to look awesome and elegant... do you mind if I-"

"'Course not, please." Derek answered almost tripping with his own words, that made Stiles blush a little as they came closer.

"I'm gonna- okay, I'll obviously be the girl so uh let me show you how to put your hands." Stiles cleared his throat, Derek obeyed in silence, he was too busy looking at the young man's many moles on his face. "The bride's hand has to go here, on your bicep not on your shoulder, right here," Stiles put his hand on Derek's bicep as he narrated, "you have to stand really straight for this." At that Derek straightened his back, which gave him at least two inches over Stiles, who then did the same.

As Stiles instructed him into the dance position -"your right hand has to go on my upper back, like a little under the shoulder blade, yes, under my left arm"- they stood a little closer and Derek started to feel the warmth coming off his younger teacher.

"Lift your left arm like this, it should go there all the time, and you hold my- your partner's hand gently, not grabbing or letting your arm hang. Yes, perfect." Stiles smiled up at him. "Neither of you have to let the arms fall on the other, both partners have to hold their arms up and straighten their back on their own so it looks much more polished even if you're not an expert. Resting your arm on the other looks awful, and I know it's a bit uncomfortable now that we're starting but it's more natural once you start moving. I promise."

Derek nodded obediently and kept his right arm in the air, hand on Stiles' back as instructed, not grabbing or letting his arm hang; the same with his other arm, which was in the air with Stiles' right hand attached to his left one. At least position was kind of easy.

"You good?" Stiles asked with a smirk. Back perfectly straightened and arms just the right way, as if he had been dancing this his whole life.

Well, he was a dance instructor after all, Derek figured Stiles didn't only teach children to dance until their energy was all burned out, but also taught adults some professional steps.

Derek remembered the time he saw Stiles rehearsing that duet with Lydia, the sharp and precise moves they both delivered with perfect synchronization showing how trained they probably were. It was obvious that Stiles wasn't just some glorified babysitter for an hour and a half twice a week.

"Okay, so second of all, I'll teach you the basic moves -[the box step](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVnNy6PBB1Y), which is essentially just moving inside of a imaginary square on the floor, then you start moving around and spinning."

"I feel like you shouldn't have put on these shoes." Derek said, looking at Stiles' usual sneakers. "I'm going to step all over you, trust me."

"Hey, I'm a dance teacher, I'm used to ending up all sore and limping."

Derek pressed his lips together to prevent the laughter, but almost cracked when he saw Stiles blushing at his own words and then clearing his throat to keep going.

"I uh... I'm going to teach you so you can do it by my side first and then we practice in position. So-" Stiles left him and stood by Derek's right, "both feet start together and then you move the left one forward," Stiles moved as he spoke and Derek watched, trying to mentally convince himself that he could do that, "the right one doesn't stop there and goes immediately to the side and then both feet together again. That's the first step. Let's try together."

Derek tried, and failed, and then failed again. But luckily the fourth time was successful and Stiles made him do it a couple of times again so they could move on to the second step.

When Derek had learned the whole thing, Stiles came to him again and made him go back to position. Close enough to get their arms in the correct place and look at each other. Stiles used a remote control for the speaker and the music started to sound.

"Let's see if we can get it on the first try."

"You're a man of faith."

"I taught my dad how to dance the waltz for his wedding five years ago and I was in high school, and here we're currently working on something I never thought I'd ever pull. I'm a believer," Stiles answered with a proud expression on his face. Derek wanted to laugh with him but sobered up after Stiles shook his face and focused on the music to give him the sign to start. "Okay, one, two, three, one, two, three."

The first go was at a very slow pace that didn't actually match the music but helped Derek get used to the sound of it while moving his feet. He stepped on Stiles' feet at least three times and felt absolutely mortified every single one of them, to which Stiles just laughed out and asked him to restart, claiming to be used to it, that many dance partners gave him a harder time (he even showed Derek a fading bruise on his shin caused by a guy called Isaac).

It was awkward at first, neither of them actually wanting to get too close to the other and trying to get used to their partner's way of moving. Derek continuously shifting his hand up and down on Stiles' shoulder blade, which only made the younger adjust it as best as he could.

After an hour and a little more, Stiles clapped at him having mastered the completely-out-of-pace box step in just one class -he even got a bright smile from the instructor, and Derek liked that much more than he would have admitted-.

"You did great, next time we'll fit it to the music and go through position again, which is the part that's difficult to remember, the whole moving around the dance floor flows easily once you have that covered." Stiles explained as he picked his stuff.

"Thank you. For your patience and- uh everything," Derek finished stiffly putting his belongings back on his pockets and grabbing his car keys. "You're a... very good teacher."

"Thank you. Don't sound so surprised. I'll see you on Saturday, try and practice with Malia."

Derek nodded and left before Stiles, he figured the other had a few things to deal with at the school. Or maybe Derek just didn't want to risk bumping into Lydia and see them together again.

 

*

"I'm done, done, I swear to God, done."

"What do you mean?"

"Ow... ow, Alli, that's all I can stretch- I meant, done with this stupid little crush on the dance dad."

"Oh, you assume you have a crush on him, then?"

"Stupid little crush, I said." Stiles followed Allison's position on his yoga mat. Scott was busy in the kitchen, making something for the three of them and Lydia, who was going to be there later.

"Why? Did he say something to you? Was he rude?"

"No, just-... he's getting married."

"What?"

"He's taken, getting married, actually, so this has to stop. And I need to work on my self-destructive decisions too."

"Explain." Allison moved in front of Stiles and went back to the position they were practicing.

"I know he's getting married because he -well, Malia- asked me to give him Waltz lessons and... I might have said yes."

"You said yes," Allison looks unimpressed. Of course, they have known each other for too long.

"Who said yes to what?" asked Scott, sitting in front of both of them on the floor. Scott didn't really like yoga that much, at least not when he wasn't alone with Allison.

"Stiles thought it would be a great idea to say yes to teaching the Hale dad how to dance _on his wedding_." After that, Allison slapped him in the head.

"Ow! You're in position, Alli! You're supposed to be all Namaste and shit!"

"There's a bad decision, bro."

"Thank you, I try not remembering the time you thought it would be a great idea to get a buzz cut with me and judge you based on that."

"I was twelve!! Anyway, back to the your stupid decisions, did I hear the hot dad you talk about is actually getting married? _Not to you_?"

"Jesus Christ, Scott, I met him like 2 minutes ago."

"But you want his d-"

"I never said that, I said I thought he was hot, and nice and... a good dad. That's all! I'm not _in love_ or anything! I barely know him, we've talked three times or something."

"That time he brought you coffee... you wouldn't shut up about it," Scott teased.

"Whatever! He's getting married, end of discussion. What I thought I wanted is irrelevant now."

"You're still giving him private lessons, I don't think that's good for you, honey."

"I couldn't say no, Malia asked if I was available! And I was, and you know there are no other dance teachers at the school who can give private waltz lessons at this time of the year, and Lydia wasn't available until next month!"

"That sounds like a lot of excuses," Scott said, while Allison put her hand on his mouth to make him stop talking and Stiles held position and flipped him off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh guys, this chapter is awfully short, and I like pretending that I'm a good person so, I was dividing the chapters and said, well, I don't really want to mess with the chapter divisions that I have ready and set so I can't make it longer oh lord! what can we do~?
> 
> long story short, I'm gonna put up the next chapter tomorrow because I'm cool and so many of you have been the nicest readers<3  
> Chapter 6 tomorrow, then! It's settled, it won't be a mistake on your subscription email lol(?)
> 
> Thank you very much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos, YOU GIVE ME LIFE.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another suitor joins Malia and Derek on the "We have a crush on the dance teacher" list. Get in line, sweetie.  
> Derek learns new information and he takes some advantage.

Derek was reading the bunch of emails from clients that morning, he could hear his daughter softly mumbling a song she had had stuck in her head for a few days now and he smiled into his cup of coffee. It was a quiet morning,

"Daddy, do you think Stiles will like this?"

Derek turned around to see what Malia was holding: a bracelet made with little bright colored beads, uneven and randomly arranged together. He smiled at his daughter, maybe he was being an enabler and maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, but Derek didn't really think a six-year-old crushing on her dance teacher was too hurtful. It was actually cute. Derek's opinion probably didn't count though.

"It's nice, did you make it yourself?"

"Aunt Laura helped me," she said proudly.

"How come I don't get one?" Derek asked with an arched eyebrow, to which his daughter blushed furiously.

"I'll make you one, I just want to say thank you to Stiles!" she defended herself and put the bracelet on her backpack.

"Sure, M."

"Daddy, don't you like Stiles?"

"What?" Derek almost choked on his coffee, some drops of the drink splattering on his glasses.

"He's teaching you how to dance for Aunt Laura's wedding! And he took care of me _and_ Kira says he's awesome and I say so!"

Derek cleared his throat and carefully wiped the coffee stains off his glasses to put them back on, totally _not_ avoiding explaining himself.

"Daddy?"

"I- I think he's okay, he's nice... and he's a good teacher." Derek hid his face behind his cup of coffee, it was way too early for this.

"He's cute too."

"Yeah, I mean... sure, you could say that."

"He's cute, daddy!!" she pointed at him with her spoon to make him admit the fact. She always did that, she had bullied Cora into accepting the fact that unicorns were a possibility _"Daddy says there are places in the world that we don't know, there could be unicorns there, Cora."_

"Well, he's got a girlfriend, he's what you'd call cute," _I'd say more than cute, but point made_. Derek took the empty bowl so Malia could go brush her teeth.

"What girlfriend?" Malia asked with uncertain eyes, a little glimpse of fear or -what Derek would call- heartbreak in her small face.

"Lydia?" Derek said with all the sensitivity he could grasp, he didn't want his daughter to start crying and break her heart because Stiles had a girlfriend.

"Lydia's not his girlfriend, Daddy," Malia immediately relaxed and giggled.

"What?"

"They are friends, Stiles told me he liked Lydia when they were little but then he started liking a boy and then Lydia and him become friends!"

"'became'. Are you... sure?"

"Yes, Daddy, Stiles told me," she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, leaving Derek wondering if maybe the need to burst out laughing was too much of a sign that he was doomed.

When Malia came out of the bathroom, she gave him a weird look and asked him if he was okay, and kept giving him an unsure look when they headed to the school.

Derek wouldn't stop smiling like an idiot.

 

*

"Okay, boys and girls, great job, I'm very proud! Get your things, your parents will be around any minute!" as he said that, some moms started to show up to get their kids, waving at him before going out. As usual, Malia and Kyle were last.

"Uhm, Stiles?" Kyle asked him.

"Yes, buddy?"

"I- I wanted to give you something..." Kyle fumbled with his hands on his pockets and finally got something out, it seemed some kind of candy on a very bright package. Kyle stretched his hand giving him the package, now Stiles saw what it was.

"Oh! It's a Ring Pop! Cool!" Stiles smiled big at Kyle, who blushed hard and nodded, "thank you!"

"My big sister came this weekend and gave me one and- and I wanted to give it to you, it'll look pretty on you."

Stiles blinked at Kyle, this six-year-old was smoother than guys much older than him. He wasn't sure it was entirely appropriate but he wasn't there to reject a kid's present, so he gave Kyle a friendly hug and a pat on the head. "Thank you very much, Kyle, this is awesome!"

He hadn't noticed Derek had arrived to pick Malia, so when he looked up he saw the father standing there with his daughter, who was now looking down and grabbing her Derek's jeans.

"Hi, Mr. Hale, is Malia staying with us this time?"

"Uh no, my sister is taking her, I'll walk her to the ground floor and be back in a minute."

"Sure!"

"I'm here, I'm here, Stiles," Vanessa, as usual, clacked her heels across the room to pick her son, who was smiling brightly, "let's go, sweetie. Bye, Stiles!"

"Bye, Ms. Parrish, thank you, Kyle, I loved the ring."

"Okay, bye, Stiles! Bye, Malia!"

Malia was obviously upset as she shyly waved back at Kyle, but he didn't think it was a good idea to ask, Derek was there and he could handle it better, it didn't mean it worried him any less though. Stiles was quiet as Derek and Malia walked out of the room so they could meet Cora and sat on the floor getting the ipod ready with the waltz track while waiting for Derek to come back.

He beamed at the Ring Pop still inside the shiny plastic bag, it was blue raspberry flavored, and briefly wondered how Kyle knew he liked that. Awesome coincidence.

He opened the plastic bag and took the ring out to place it on his finger, it fit since his fingers were bony and gave the candy a lick to taste it. A little moan escaped his mouth, it had been so long since he last tasted one of those.

"Am I interrupting something?" Derek's voice startled him and almost made him jump. He stood up and showed the ring on his finger.

"These are awesome, and my kids are great and bring me gifts."

"I see. Such a charming little boy." Derek said smirking a bit while he took his wallet and phone out of his pockets and left them on the usual chair.

"He's very sweet, ugh, I love these things," he gave the ring another little lick before putting it back on the package. He wiped his hands on his towel, grabbed the speakers' remote and came to stand in front of Derek, who was waiting for him with a very amused expression on his face. It might be Stiles' impression, but he looked more... relaxed. "What?"

"Does that really work?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Giving you candy. Does it work for you?"

Stiles looked at Derek for what felt like hours -actually two seconds- in confusion with his mouth half opened, not really understanding the angle of the question (or, more like Stiles wanted to ignore the angle _he_ was thinking of). He cleared his throat and started the music to lighten the mood.

"You can't buy my favoritism with candy, if that's what you mean," Stiles answered, trying to sound playful, probably coming out as awkward. "But see it this way, you're my favorite Waltz student."

"I'm your only Waltz student."

"It's a great honor." Stiles winked at Derek, who shook his head and stood straight and stretched this arms, a sign for Stiles to start the class.

"I think my daughter has a crush on you." Derek said after a few minutes of practicing the box step and polishing the basic position.

"She just likes my class, it's very popular since I don't terrorize kids into learning killer positions and strict choreographies."

"No, I think she has a really cute, really adorable crush on you, and she's not the only one."

" _What?_ " Stiles almost tripped, almost, he was a professional and -thanks to God- knew how to hide mistakes before ending up looking like an idiot in front of Derek.

"The boy who gave you the ring, it's pretty obvious."

"Oh... oh, I- well... I try treating them all the same but Malia and Kyle spend more time with me and Kyle was one of my first students in this group, so..."

"Don't worry, I'm dealing with Malia -sorry, my left foot hates me-"

"Move it over there, no step, okay, like that..." Stiles felt Derek way too close to be appropriate for an engaged man, but he didn't complain nor he put any distance. He was going to hell, obviously.

"She was a little jealous earlier... because of the gift the boy gave you. I'm apologizing in advance for any weird behavior she starts having towards you."

"Please, don't worry, I've been dealing with kids and dance moms for two years, and some of them are very territorial and intense. I don't want Malia to feel like I'm picking favorites, please tell her that." Stiles looked at Derek's eyes to make his point clear, Derek returned his look with a determined nod.

"I'll handle it." Stiles was sure he felt a reassuring pat on his back, where Derek's hand rested under his shoulder blade.

"Great." Stiles didn't notice they weren't moving. At all.

He shook his head and made Derek go back to straightened back and elegant position, teaching him now how to move around the place while trying to keep up with the basic steps. They almost fell to the floor a few times, but Derek would always put his whole arm firmly around Stiles to keep him from hitting the floor, and Stiles could swear he was so doomed he could feel the bitter taste of guilt for crushing on an almost-married man in his mouth.

Stiles felt like Derek was trying very subtly to hit on him, he smiled a little more at Stiles and tried making conversation while practicing the steps, which was a change from the previous times where he just followed directions and stayed quiet during almost the whole lesson.

Maybe it was just his imagination, his subconscious playing around with him and being an asshole, because he was totally trying to forget this stupid crush but now Derek was being nicer and easy to talk to and it shouldn't feel so good and so bad at the same time.

Sometimes Stiles would stop answering to Derek when he listened to the Waltz in the background, reminding him of the actual reason they were talking: Derek was getting married. Soon. And what he was doing was not right.

"I think we're done for today," Stiles stepped aside and stopped the track with the remote, "you're doing great, have you practiced at home?"

"Not really, Malia wants me to practice with her so we can dance together at the wedding, though."

"That would be... cute." Stiles answered with a smile.

"I'll work on my feet so I don't stomp on yours every class." Derek picked his stuff and put them back on his pockets.

"Thoughtful." Stiles picked his own stuff, he had to move to the other Room to practice with the group. "I'll see you on Saturday, okay? I have practice with the group after the kids, see you at two? Don't be mad at me if I take a few minutes longer."

"Sure, I'll be here. See you, then."

"Bye, Mr. Hale."

"It's Derek."

"Bye, Derek," Stiles murmured after he was out of the Room, sighing heavily and feeling like he was cheating on someone with no face and actually didn't exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also short but /BUT/ with the previous one you have like 11 pages of new fic, right? That's totally how it works.  
> Chapters will get a little longer, really, it's just how I planned on cutting them, bear with me, please.  
> This comes a little earlier in the day because I won't be able to do it later. 
> 
> As usual, thank you all for reading and commenting, guys<3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see: Kira must be putting some kind of drug in her delicious goodies but Derek also gets valuable information. The song Stiles dances has a very important one, mind you Derek. Laura makes an appearance and Derek is going to lose all his hair because of it.

Derek happily bit into another cupcake, perfectly aware of the fact that Cora was talking. Derek was sure, his sister meant to ask him something important, but he was also busy enjoying Kira's cupcakes (oh my god, this girl should have her own bakery shop or something) so he couldn't give an immediate answer, but that didn't stop Cora from asking again when she noticed Derek wasn't listening.

"Malia seems a little down, what's wrong? Is there something wrong at school? Should I be terrorizing six-year-olds?"

"You can't go and terrorize kids, Cora, it's not nice." Kira said as a matter of fact, nodding and fixing a new batch of freshly baked cupcakes, chocolate with cappuccino top this time.

"Whatever."

"There's nothing wrong with school, she's actually better than last month, she' behaving and talking to a couple of kids, I'm told." Derek sighed as Kira put another cupcake -the third- in front of him and his sister, who got a kiss on the lips for enduring the incredibly hard work of tasting delicious treats for her to sell on a bakery downtown.

Derek might have started to think as a deeply bitter single man. Might have.

"So, what's wrong with her? She doesn't want to play with me, I'm devastated."

"Well... she got a crush on someone kind of absolutely unattainable."

"Nonsense, she's a Hale, as dad would say." Cora said flatly and rolling her eyes, Kira giggled at that.

"Speak for yourself, little sister, you might have gotten lucky and Laura might be getting married but-"

"Don't complain, you're single by option."

"Not anymore, no," Derek said, biting the last piece of another terribly delicious cupcake. This had to stop.

When he looked up while wiping his mouth, Cora and Kira were giving him baffled looks.

"Did you meet someone?" Derek was impressed both of them asked almost at the same time, they had been dating for a long time (in Cora's records anyway, she had never dated anyone longer than two months, Kira and her were going for the fifth month soon) but weren't really the kind of couple to do things at the same time or finish each other's sentences.

"No?"

"So, yes."

"I bet it's a client, you have awful taste, bro."

"Thanks." Derek rolled his eyes at Cora. "No, it's not a client."

"So you _did_ meet someone," Cora put a bite of cupcake deliciousness on her mouth while displaying a winning grin.

"I- no, I didn't. We were talking about my daughter anyway." Derek tried to go back to the previous issue but was not successful, it seemed like adults had much more interesting problems than kids. Who would know?

"Who is it, Derek?" Kira asked with a sweet smile. Derek liked this girl for his sister, they were complete opposites and made a great couple. And she made his sister smile a lot, which was terrifying at first but both Laura and him had agreed it was much better than tough dry cold Cora.

"Look, I haven't met anyone, I just got bored of being by myself and I'd like to-"

"Get some."

"Cora!" Kira slapped playfully at her girlfriend's arm.

"Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go and tell people, and by people I mean Laura."

"What are you offering?" Cora asked with a wicked smile.

"Your life?"

"Children, please," Kira waved at them to get back to serious conversation, "we won't tell, we promise, don't we, Cora?"

Cora sighed heavily and gave a huge bite to her cupcake. "Fine. I won't tell, not because you're asking, but because Laura is all crazy stressed with the wedding and she'll lose it if she knows you want a plus-one, she's going to set up a list for you and hold auditions, I can see it."

"It's a win-win decision." Derek nodded. Cora was totally right, Laura made it her personal mission to find Derek people to date, she had had luck a couple of times but the times she got it wrong were catastrophic.

Derek tried hard not to focus on the memory of Jen saying over and over how sorry she was but _'I tried, Derek, I really did, but you have a little girl and I never planned on taking such a responsibility, not yet at least._ ' Jennifer had been honest, thankfully; some others had plainly ignored he was a single father and then just gave up on it after a couple of weeks. Derek didn't really blame them, it wasn't easy dating a twenty-something guy with a little girl.

"Who are you bringing to the wedding, by the way?"

"You ask as if I have options to choose from." Derek raised an eyebrow and Kira patted him in the shoulder.

"You'll find someone, bro, don't worry." Cora wiped her hands with a towel and came back to sit by Derek's side. "Let's drop it and go back to my favorite niece's heartache."

Derek sighed and closed his eyes in defeat, he knew neither of those issues would end well for him because... well, because both Malia and him had the same problem.

Sort of.

Not that Derek was admitting that to himself, honestly.

"Like I said, she likes someone who's completely out of her league for like _several years_."

"Who is it? What the hell, Derek?!"

"I'm told it's pretty normal for kids to like fun cute teachers who braid their hair often and wink at them and pay them attention."

"Malia has a crush on Stiles?" Kira asked with eyes wide open.

"Did you just call the cute teacher 'cute'?" Cora asked on the other hand.

Derek decided to ignore Cora, for the sake of his dignity.

"She does, but I talked to him about it, she felt bad because she made a present for him but some other boy gave him one first."

"Oh, my poor kitty," his sister sighed and put her chin on her hand, pouting, "what did the cute teacher say?"

"His name is Stiles and he's not only cute, he's a great person, super smart and an awesome dancer," Kira told them both, as if Derek didn't know all that already. Cora just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Did he say he would accept Malia's present or not? Because if he's not I'm kicking his ass."

"He said he didn't want his kids to feel rejected, and was actually worried about her. Stiles says he's used to dealing with territorial kids and moms so I'm counting on him being thoughtful about the whole thing. He's been great for her, Malia's actually behaving much better at school and it's all because of the dance class. I don't want to take that away from her just because she's got a childish crush. She'll grow out of it."

"Right. So, this magnificent creature who's not only -in your own words- 'cute', a great teacher, an awesome dancer and braids hair is Malia's crush?" Cora asked waiting for Derek's response, which was a silent nod, he was busy fixing his glasses on his nose, "I don't see the appeal. How old is he anyway?"

"He's turning 21 in a couple of weeks if I'm not mistaken," Kira said pursing her lips to recall the date while Derek choked on saliva and tried to hide it with awkward coughs, "that reminds me, we're invited to his party, it's at Boyd's sister's bar, she's giving him his first legal drink."

He's twenty. Stiles is twenty years old. Jesus Christ. Derek is screwed.

_Okay, calm down, this means nothing. Beside he's going to be twenty one in weeks, and he's perfectly legal and-_

Derek had to stop thinking about this like it was a possibility.

 

*

Of course, the universe hated Derek, and when he arrived for his class, Stiles was still rehearsing with the group in the next Room.

Stiles saw him standing in the door and awkwardly gestured him to wait a couple of minutes, probably it was the last time they rehearsed the whole dance. Derek noticed the other a little nervous, like he didn't want Derek to watch this one, he wasn't as comfortable as the other times.

This time it was an [R&B song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar5oqEOYlLI%20), pretty similar to what Derek would identify as Justin Timberlake, but in Korean. As the song started, he saw Stiles in the middle of the group -the leading position for this one, nice- warming up to the piano intro and the other members of the dance group stretching their arms.

Derek didn't see this one coming, really; a full R&B performance by this lanky boy who looked nothing like a trained dancer under an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, all sharp moves and light feet with precise and coordinated steps. The choreography flowed nicely with the lyrics of the song, and -according to what Derek could gather- told an angsty story of unrequited love? Maybe. He wasn't that sure, he might have ignored everyone else in favor of not missing a beat of Stiles' moves.

The blond guy Derek recognized as 'Isaac', was by Stiles left and kept looking at him, probably watching if he made a mistake, but by what felt the middle of the song, Stiles had done amazing and all Derek could think of was the deep concentration in the other's eyes.

When the instrumental part of the song started, Stiles was left alone dancing to it with choreographed moves that Derek couldn't stop looking at, cheered by the others in the Room, which made Stiles smile shyly as he finished the part and the other dancers came back to their position, now with girls following the choreography. Derek spotted Lydia's red hair dancing the duet part with another boy near her height. She didn't dance with Stiles because the lead dancer went alone for the rest of the song as Derek could observe.

Derek had never really liked this type of music, he was more of a classic rock guy -as predictable as that could sound at first sight-, but he wasn't going to deny the fact that these performances were entertaining to say the least. Maybe, just maybe, the whole bonus of Stiles dancing to this song made him follow the melody with a very low humming.

When the song came to an end and the track stopped, Stiles raised his arms in victory and Isaac high fived him with a smirk after telling him something like "I'm going to kill you if you miss the solo part again." Lydia came to his side and patted his shoulder, followed by a kiss on the cheek Derek couldn't help lift an eyebrow to.

As the other dancers went out of the room, Stiles took his water and towel to walk to Derek. "Just let me be less disgusting and we can start, sorry for making you wait."

"No problem, that was fun to watch."

"It was a little embarrassing," Stiles said as he drank from his bottle and Derek followed him to their usual room.

"What do you mean? Is it embarrassing when you dance in front of a public too?"

"No... I-" Derek saw Stiles blushing a bit, he could see it, even though it could be due to the whole dance routine, but Derek was pretty sure he was blushing, "I just don't have many solos, it's just that."

"Oh, well... I'm no expert but I think you did great." Derek put his keys and wallet on the chair next to the ipod dock in which Stiles was looking for the track they used.

"Thank you, I missed a few steps but I can totally manage to hide it since no one is by my side to dance the actual choreography."

"Was that Korean too?"

"Yeah, we've taken a lot of song from the genre, they have awesome dance routines, really."

"What was the song about? I felt it was a little sad."

Derek didn't see what happened, but turned around when he heard the remote control hitting the floor. Stiles was facing the mirror so he couldn't tell for sure but Derek definitely saw the other pressing his lips together.

"Uh... this... person is singing to a girl who's getting married to... someone else." Stiles stood up, still a little flushed from the previous dance, Derek felt his eyes different, they looked straight at him, as if Stiles was trying to tell him something but he couldn't get what it was.

"Oh." Derek said awkwardly, not sure if he was saying what Stiles wanted to hear. "Nothing to do about it, right?"

Derek felt Stiles more tense as they started to practice, he looked a little tired and stepped on his foot three times, which was usually the other way around. Derek kept quiet anyway not wanting to bother Stiles if he was not having a good day, only speaking when the younger gave him directions and asked him to move but he got distracted a lot looking at the other's eyes trying to find something there that could help him fix whatever that was wrong.

When they were done, Derek said goodbye with an uneasy feeling in his chest, as if he was to blame for leaving Stiles tensed up and sad.

 

*

"I feel like I did something wrong but I'm not sure what I actually did."

"Sorry, what?"

 "Has it ever happened to you? Like, you feel like you offended someone but you don't know what you said or did?"

Laura glanced at Derek from her laptop, he was sitting across the table, she was checking the billion things she had to do while he finished sending emails to his clients.

Derek couldn't stop thinking about the last lesson with Stiles. There had been something in Stiles' eyes that made Derek think he had done something wrong but he just couldn't place it, as much as he repeated the whole afternoon in his head, which was impressive to be honest. He wasted at least a couple of hours remembering every step of the choreography Stiles danced that day, the swift and precise movements and the look of complete focus on his face.

"What did you do, Derek?"

"I don't know, that's the point." He massaged his forehead. "I feel like Stiles is mad at me but I honestly don't know what I did."

"And this is important for you because..." Laura lifted an eyebrow at him, grinning mischievously, obviously trying to make him say it out loud. Derek was clearly not here for it.

"Whatever. What I'm trying to say is, that it makes me uncomfortable and I want to fix it. I still have lessons with him and I'd like them not to be nerve-wrecking."

"You care about this dancing boy so much it's not funny anymore." Laura rolled her eyes and left her laptop to give Derek her full attention. "If you cannot accept it I don't think you deserve to be on good terms with him."

"Since when did you get so deep?"

"I'm getting married, Derek, I get to be a couple's therapist or something."

"We're not a couple, I've only-"

"Talked a few times with him, yes, I know, so you've said, several times." Laura refilled his cup of coffee and messed his hair, as if he was still ten. "The thing is, do you want it to be something else? Or you just want him to think you're this mysterious hot dad who goes to Waltz lessons?"

"You're my sister, you're not allowed to refer to me as 'hot'."

"The point, Derek," she dismissed his observation with a wave of her hand, "I'm tired of seeing you passively pining for this boy, do something!"

"I'm not-"

"The point, I said," Laura pointed at him and opened her eyes wide, all i'm-the-older-sister-and-I-know-best posture, "do you want something else with him or does platonic friendship sound good?"

Derek looked at her for a couple of seconds, holding his breath, looking for the best words to say it, but failing at it. "Platonic friendship would suck, to be honest," he finally said with a sigh, blushing a bit, it was embarrassing to admit it in front of Laura, but it was better than keeping it inside and not do anything.

"That's my brother!" Laura praised him with a pat on his arm, "what's the real problem here, Derek?"

"There is no problem, besides him acting like I hurt him in some way."

"Derek..."

"Do you know how long has it been since I last dated someone?" Derek said with both hands on his forehead.

"That doesn't matter, Derek," Laura stroked his arm in sympathy, "You've been busy being a father for Malia, you haven't had the time..."

"That wasn't the issue last time, you know it."

"Well, this time luckily that won't be the problem, he loves Malia, you've said so."

"I don't even know if he likes me in the first place, Laura... and what if he only likes my daughter from outside? What if he's not interested in someone who has a kid to care for? I wouldn't blame him, at all, he's so young-"

"It seems to me that you're looking for excuses here, Der," she pushed her hair back, looking determined to fix Derek's failing -or non-existent- love life, "This is crazy, I don't even know him. He must be very cute, I mean Cora said so, there's a shocker."

"He is." Derek sighed into his coffee.

"And I guess he has to be interesting enough for you to want to get out of your perpetually single father life, so I'm going to help."

"No, thank you."

"Come on, Derek, it'll be fun, and if everything turns out right you can always bring him to my wedding."

" _No_."

"Don't be mean, I would never embarrass you in front of your new boyfriend," she said with a smile, taking her phone from the table and looking for something in it.

"Laura, what are you doing?" he tried taking the phone off her hands but she was faster, and as she stood up she brought the device to her ear to speak.

"Baby sis, hi! No, nothing wrong, I need a favor," she gestured Derek to be quiet, and he obeyed, he didn't want to be the victim of his evil sisters, "you said yesterday that you were going to someone's birthday, when is that?"

Derek could feel cold sweat on his forehead, and stood up to do something but Laura pointed at him like she could magically make him freeze.

Derek stood there quiet and still.

"Next week? Oh, well, I'll need pictures of Derek's teacher anyway, the cute one, yes... no, I'll tell you later- oh! Awesome! I'll wait for those."

_Oh shit, what was his crazy sister even trying to achieve?_

"I'll need your girlfriend for the second part of the job, okay? She can be our spy. Love you, baby, bye!" Laura hung up and looked at Derek with a terribly wicked grin.

Derek wasn't sure he would come out with much dignity. And worst of all, Laura didn't even tell him how to fix the awkward situation with Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS! You are the BEST, seriously, thank you for all your comments and kudos, they make me smile every time I get a notification<3  
> Kira and Cora showed up for longer now? Aren't they the cutest? Yes, yes they are, they're my ship if they had ever met, because Scott would obviously be with Allison but let's not discuss canon, I don't want to get irrationally angry lol
> 
> Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for reading<3


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles and Malia have a little talk, then Stiles and Derek have a little talk.  
> This is not a super happy chapter.

"Ready?"

"Yes, daddy," Malia said, playing with the bracelet she never gave Stiles between her fingers, it made Derek uneasy but unfortunately he couldn't help her deliver it, not this time. Malia put the bracelet in one of the pockets of her bag and fixed her hair behind her ears.

"You know, I heard it's Stiles' birthday next week, maybe you can give him that present then," Derek said without really thinking about it, he didn't even know the exact day, he would have to ask Kira later but that could be arranged. Derek just didn't want Malia to be so down because she was too shy to give Stiles the present after that Kyle kid gave him his.

"Is it? Are you sure?!" his daughter's face immediately lightened up and she smiled big at Derek, which made him automatically feel the best father in the whole world.

"I don't know which day but I'll ask, and then you can give him the present, in private. Is that okay for you?"

"Yes!" Malia stood up in the car seat, which would have made Derek nervous if the vehicle had been moving.

"Okay, great!" Malia high-fived him and then they got off the car so Derek could walk her into the building, and as he saw his daughter hoping into the gym, Derek had to mentally pat himself in the back for that idea.

 

"What I need is sex, that's all, I just need someone to fu-"

"Why not call Cait?," Scott smiled amused at him while he put gear away in the gym boxes.

"I told you, she's with someone and last I knew it's pretty serious."

"Oh... well, we can go out tomorrow for drinks, I mean, Allison and I, you can try get laid."

"You're the bestest brother I've ever had."

"I'm the only brother you have."

"You know what I mean. Thank you, Lydia can't come with me, she has a date with Jackson."

"Jackson said they're going to the lake house, he's in a good mood, his clients seem grateful."

Stiles helped Scott get the dumbbells into place, he was used to help in his free time. The dance school was in the first and second floor since the gym took the whole ground floor but Stiles never hesitated to visit Scott at his work place there.

His stepbrother was a personal trainer in the gym, he had been working there for the last nine months to help pay for college since his part time job at the animal clinic wasn't enough. Allison was a yoga instructor for the weekends, mainly as a hobby, since she was too busy to have a full time job there, but since all of them frequented the place, she had decided to teach basic yoga there, Friday evenings and Saturdays.

Stiles was going to start saying something but he thought he heard his name being called a few steps away and he turned around. He waved back as he saw little Malia running towards him with the biggest smile he had seen in a while. "Princess! You're early!"

"Hi, Stiles!" she said as she approached, but when she saw Scott she immediately blushed and kept quiet, shying away from the stranger that was his brother for her.

"Malia, this is my brother Scott, Scott, this is Princess Malia, one of my favorite students," he then whispered not so quietly into Scott's ear, "don't tell, buddy, it's a secret."

"Never," Scott ran his fingers across his lips to signal a zipped mouth, "nice to meet you, Malia, that's a pretty name," he smiled friendly at her but she just took a step back and looked at Stiles for approval. That made Stiles feel very proud of himself, shy kids were truly difficult to work with, especially if you weren't really trained to do so as a school teacher would be.

Stiles had been opening his mouth to tell her it was okay, but when he looked up he saw Derek coming to gently put his hand on Malia's head. He had been looking at Stiles, which made him a little nervous. Stiles didn't know if the awkwardness of their last meeting had gone away or not, but judging by Derek's uneasiness, Stiles could guess.

"Hi, sorry, she's a little shy." Derek told Scott, who immediately noticed Stiles stiffening and kept giving him subtle looks.

"It's okay, I get it."

"Hi, Stiles," Derek told him, and Stiles couldn't hear anything wrong in his tone.

"Hi, Mr. Hale." Stiles answered a little awkwardly, he wished that way of calling Derek wouldn't be as automatic as it was.

"It's Derek," the other said pressing his lips to hide a smile but quickly sobered as he turned to look at Scott.

"Oh, sorry, this is Scott, Scott, this is Malia's dad, Mr- uh, Derek Hale."

Stiles could feel Scott judging his awkwardness mere inches away from him as he took Derek's hand and shook his hand.

"I've heard of you... your daughter, I'm told she's very energetic."

Stiles was going to punch Scott in the face even if he could totally dodge him.

"Have you?" Derek quickly glanced at Stiles, who had the decency to blush.

"Stiles was a very energetic kid when he was her age, I guess he feels the connection."

Oh my God, Stiles was going to kick Scott _hard_.

"I see, that's why you're good with kids like Malia." Derek said in a way that made Stiles think that he was testing waters or something. So the awkwardness wasn't gone then. Stiles' fault of course, he had let his frustration show after Derek saw him dance that last time.

"I- I'll take that as a compliment," Stiles answered clearing his throat and scratching his nose to hide his embarrassment.

"It is."

_Oh my god._

Stiles totally heard Scott snickering by his side. Worst brother in history.

He tried not looking at Derek after he said that and looked down at Malia, who was silently grabbing her father's jeans. "Do you want to go upstairs? I can braid your hair before everyone else comes."

"Yes, please." Malia answered in a very low voice, giving a last shy look at Scott, who nevertheless smiled at her, and let Stiles take her hand to guide her to the elevators.

"I'll see you later, bro," Scott said with a mean grin and a wink as Stiles turned around to wave back. Thank God Derek didn't look back.

"I'm sorry." Malia said after Stiles let her press the elevator button.

"Don't worry, princess, he was very shy when he was little, he even stuttered." Stiles told Malia, who was listening to him intently as Stiles decidedly didn't look up at Derek, who was quiet by their side.

"Is he your brother? You don't look alike."

"Malia, that's not polite."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Stiles answered only giving a quick glance at Derek, "he's my stepbrother, our parents got married five years ago, but we have been best friends since we were nine. He works here, you know?"

"Is he a teacher like you?" Malia asked still holding Stiles' hand, Derek followed behind.

"Kind of, he's a personal trainer."

"What's that?"

"Someone you pay to make you suffer." Stiles joked and winked at Malia but the little girl didn't get it, on the other hand, her dad snorted behind him. "That's a joke, it's an instructor that helps a person follow an exercise routine, and they teach people how to properly exercise according to what you want to achieve, get stronger, get better resistance, how to run better, etc."

"Oh... to get muscles like Daddy!" she pointed out, and Stiles wished she hadn't as he immediately felt his ears get a little red, he hoped Derek didn't notice.

"Yes, totally."

"I'm going to leave you both, I have to run, is it okay if I make you wait maybe twenty minutes after class?" Derek asked after clearing his throat, Stiles agreed while he made Malia step on a chair so he could braid her hair, the little girl waved her dad goodbye and then stood still for Stiles.

After he was done, Stiles and Malia only had to wait a few more minutes until the other kids started to arrive with their mothers, Kyle greeted him with a big smile and some others gave him a hug before they went to get ready.

The class was tiring, some of the kids were a little distracted so Stiles had to work double to make them follow basic instructions even though he never pushed them too hard. His class was all about burning energy in a fun original way instead of making little kids exercise -Stiles didn't hate kids, he would never do that- but he had to stick to some of the points of the lesson too, he needed to teach duty and responsibility and team work.

As the class finished and parents came in to pick their kids, Stiles was only left with Malia, who had her eyes glued to the floor.

"Are you bored, princess?"

"No, I like waiting here with you," she answered with a sweet yet sad smile.

"Come sit here with me, did you bring something to drink?" when Malia nodded, he picked her bag and gave it to her so she could get her juice box, "you did great today working with Sean and Kyle, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," she said in a way that made Stiles look at her for a couple of seconds.

Malia looked down and played with the straw on her juice box, clearly something bothered her.

"Sweetie, is there something wrong?" Stiles asked with his most soothing voice, hoping he didn't make Malia uncomfortable. She just shook her head. "Okay... I'm not going to make you say anything you don't want to share, but... will you tell your daddy?"

Malia looked up at her, she was probably mentally debating if that was a good idea or not. Stiles wondered what had made Malia so sad so suddenly, she had been perfectly normal before the class started and even during it; what if one of his kids had told her something? That could be the reason.

"Sean told me his daddy is dead." Malia said in a low voice. "Daddy says it's okay to be sad about it."

Stiles wished he could just plain ask, but this was a shy six-year-old girl, he had to be careful. "Your daddy is right, it is okay to be sad sometimes. Malia, what Sean told you made you feel sad?"

"Daddy says it's normal to miss Mommy."

That was the moment Stiles felt his heart break into a million pieces. He couldn't really say anything, he just stood there in silence, looking for words of comfort for a little girl until she looked up and got closer to him to grab his arm. At first he thought that Malia didn't actually grasp the concept of dead parents and Sean telling her his father was dead had shaken her bad, but this was new information, and he felt suddenly clueless about what to do.

"I feel silly because I don't remember her."

Stiles just used one arm to hug her and stroke hers. His own sadness started to coil in his gut.

"She died when I was a little baby so I don't remember her, but daddy has pictures and videos, he says I can look at those when I'm feeling sad."

"Does it work?" he asked feeling his throat and eyes burning, those words too familiar for him to be calm about it, and by personal experience seeing his mother in photos and videos only made him miss her more.

"I don't know, I never ask him to show me. Sometimes I ask him if it's better that I don't remember having a mommy, but he gets sad and I don't want him to be sad."

"Well, you can't help being sad about it, it's always hard to lose people you love, but you have your daddy to give you lots of hugs and love and help you be less sad," as he said that Stiles gave her a tight hug and a kiss on her head, "and you have aunts, right?"

"And Grandma and Grandpa and Alex and Kira!"

"See? That's a lot of people to play with!"

"Do you have a lot of people to make you happy?"

"I-" Stiles had wanted to answer that yes, indeed he had lots of friends to be happy, but as awesome and amazing as they were he still felt the void in his heart that would always belong to his mother, "I have my dad and my dad's wife who's awesome, and I have a stepbrother who loves me."

"Your dad's wife is not your mommy?"

"No, sweetie, remember I told you my dad and Scott's mom got married?"

"Where's your mommy? Does she live in another city?"

Stiles took a deep breath and expected that his honest answer didn't make Malia even sadder, he could never forgive himself if he made Malia cry. "No, princess, my mom is in heaven, like yours."

Malia gave him a look that made Stiles want to hug her and cover her in kisses and tell her that everything was going to be okay, that when you grew up it got better and you learned to live with the fact that you had lost your mother way too young.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, don't be sad," he said carefully caressing Malia's hair, she was looking at him with glassy eyes and the sweet sympathy only a little kid could show, "she was sick and she's now resting. It was years ago."

"You were a baby too?"

"No, I was a little older than you are now, I was nine." _But I will always remember the last time I talked to her and how she tried to touch my face but fell asleep and never woke up._

"Are you sad she gone?"

"Sometimes," he sighed trying to undo the lump in his throat, "but they don't expect you to forget about them, even if you don't think about them all the time," he bumped his forehead with Malia's in a gesture of comfort, "it's the fact that you know you have a mommy that keeps them in your heart, because they will always watch you and make you company."

"You think she sees me when I dance here with the others?" Malia asked with hopeful eyes.

"Of course she does! And I bet she's super proud of you," he tried shaking the sadness off both of them with a wink, but he saw the little girl still conflicted, Stiles wished he could help her in some other way but he also knew these things weren't magically gone after a few minutes, not even after years, really.

Stiles checked his face in the wall mirror when he heard familiar footsteps coming into the room, and he stood up when Malia ran towards Derek to give him a very tight hug, when her father hugged her back, he had to crouch to take her into his arms, that was when Malia hid her face in Derek's neck and Stiles couldn't help feeling like he wanted to go and give them both a hug.

"Ready to go, M?" Derek asked, giving Stiles a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, she was feeling a little down and we just talked."

"Talked about what?" he asked definitely worried.

"About Mommy." Stiles thought he heard Malia answer in a low voice, the girl hadn't left the safety of her father's neck.

He felt Derek's piercing look after Malia's answer, which made Stiles feel uncomfortable and out of place, like he had done something he wasn't allowed to do.

Well, that was accurate of course, Stiles was sure talking about dead parents with a six-year-old without her father's consent was highly inappropriate.

"It's okay, M, we have talked about this, right?" Derek said in a sweet voice Stiles hadn't heard before. He wanted to leave. "I'll be back in a minute," the older man said and quickly left the Room and Stiles standing there.

Stiles started to feel nervous, he had done something wrong, he knew it. Talking about this issue with Malia had been incredibly out of place, it wasn't his job, he was just a dance instructor, it wasn't his business and Malia had nothing to do with him and now Derek was apparently furious and probably made him wait so he could punch him in the face for being irresponsible.

He didn't have to wait much, Derek had probably hurried and left Malia with someone else in the building -Stiles remembered Kira had been around in the gym earlier- and was back within ten minutes alone and approaching him with determined steps.

"Who told you you could talk to my daughter about that?"

Stiles wanted to answer, he wanted to say he didn't mean any harm but he was so embarrassed he barely managed to take a breath before Derek kept talking.

"Do you know how hard it is to explain a six-year-old that her mother is dead? That she doesn't know what it is to have a mom because she died when she was just a baby?"

Stiles, for the first time in a long time, didn't answer to that and just stood there quiet, he didn't think he had the right to argue.

"I don't want you to talk to her about this again."

He finally felt brave enough to raise his eyes and look back, he took a deep breath and answered, "I know, you're right, I was out of line... I apologize."

"You were out of line, obviously. I hope you know how upset she is now."

Stiles felt like crying to be honest, he felt horrible, he wanted to disappear. Above everything, he felt stupid for not keeping his mouth shut and letting Malia's father handle things the way he thought best. "I know... I just- I never meant to upset her... but... I felt responsible since she- she heard from a classmate that his father had died and she was sad... I just wanted to help but you're right, I was- it's not my business."

"If she's upset because something here happens, it's my job to take care of her, not yours, what do _you_ know about these things?"

Stiles really _really_ wished he learned his lessons faster, that he magically kept quiet and submissive and polite, but he couldn't just stay there and let Derek think that he was some insensitive prick.

"I know you're mad about this, and you have every right to be, but-"

"Who do you think you are to make this call?!"

"Someone who can relate to her, even if it's only a bit..." Stiles interrupted Derek, he wasn't going to let the other go away thinking the worst of him, "she asked about my family and I answered, maybe it wasn't the best way but let me tell you, your daughter is a very smart girl and she perfectly understood that our situation is similar. She just needs someone to relate."

"Similar?" Derek asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"She just asked about my mother and I was honest, because she's smart and deserves honest answers. Look, I'm not telling you this to turn tables, I'm just explaining the situation, I need you to understand that." Stiles told Derek, who know looked embarrassed and uncomfortable. "She's a great kid and very perceptive... I didn't want to lie to her and I'm sorry... I'm really sorry that our talk upset her."

Derek was quiet for a couple of seconds but shook his head, Stiles noticed something in the other's face had changed.

"If she's not feeling like coming back to class, please don't force her."

"I was thinking... about not bringing her anymore," Derek said rubbing his hand on his face, and those words made Stiles feel even worse.

"Well... if- if she doesn't want to come back... I- I'm so sorry, I never meant for this to happen."

Derek took a moment to take a deep breath, but Stiles still thought he was beyond mad at him.

"I'm sorry, she's just-"

"I know. I mean- I know how it's like."

"I was rude, I'm sorry."

"No, I understand." Stiles waved Derek's apologies, feeling like he would never see Malia or Derek again.

"I don't know how you did it."

Stiles looked up at Derek, waiting for him to elaborate.

"She really likes you, she talks about you all the time and she's always eager to come to your class. She'd never felt this comfortable with an adult in such a short time until she met you."

That sounded a lot like Derek was trying to be nice to compensate bursting out like he did, but the thing was Stiles didn't think it was necessary.

"I'm just doing my job."

"Your job is making kids dance but you do much more than that."

Stiles blushed at that and he thought he saw half a smile in Derek's face, that made him feel a little better, but the fear of never seeing father and daughter again was still clinging to his chest. "I'm good at what I do because I was like them when I was their age, that's all."

"I wished I hadn't snapped like that at you, I feel like an asshole now." Derek was rubbing his beard now, fully regretting his outburst.

"You didn't threaten me with punching me in the face, which is never cool, trust me."

"I do."

Stiles saw Derek's face shift into shock at saying those words out loud, he probably hadn't planned on doing so, and he even blushed -just like Stiles did after hearing it-. This was so bizarre.

"T-thank you," hearing that from Derek didn't ease the feeling of having fucked up big time though, but Stiles guessed he could try going back to being civilized strangers, "I'm sorry about all this... I didn't mean to cause any harm but I promise it won't happen again."

"I know I-"

"I have to go to rehearsal now." Stiles quickly said, grabbing his stuff and going to the door, when he got there he turned around and looked at Derek, "please tell her that I'm sorry, that I hope she doesn't stop coming here because of me." After that he didn't wait for an answer and left Derek to walk towards the bathroom. He needed to breathe and not feel Derek's stare on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm 4 days late, you guys, I'm SO SORRY!!!!!!!  
> Here you have the new chapter, I hope you like it! Tell me what you think<3 I love reading all your comments.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a six-year-old knows how to handle difficult situations better than two functioning adults.  
> Just saying.

Derek didn't really sleep that night, or the next one; he kept thinking about how guilty Stiles had looked and how sad Malia had been that day. He wasn't sure how he should feel about the situation, he just knew he had to fix it or he would ruin what little fun Malia had in that school.

He put the plate in front of his daughter, it was a Saturday so they were having a late breakfast in their pajamas. "M, we need to talk."

"Okay..." she answered with the same tone she used when she was in trouble. Derek had to smile at that.

"It's okay, you haven't done anything wrong, we just have to figure some things out."

"You got mad at Stiles because of me," she said, playing with the pieces of fruit in her plate, "I don't want you to get angry with him."

"I'm not mad at him, kitty, we just had an argument."

"You were mad, you left me with Kira and screamed at him."

"That's not what happened." Derek sighed, this was so hard, he wished his mother could help him this time, "Malia, I talked to him about what you two talked because I was worried and I don't want you to be sad."

"It wasn't his fault."

"I know, I just got scared."

"Scared?"

"I just couldn't let anyone hurt you."

"But Stiles didn't-!"

"I know that now," Derek caressed Malia's messy hair, she was pouting. His daughter was mad at him because he had had an argument with her dance teacher.

Well, to be perfectly honest, Derek was mad at himself for snapping like that and being an asshole to Stiles.

"I know you're upset about it, but it was an adult conversation."

"About me."

"Well, about your own good." Derek made her turn to look at him on her seat. "Kitty, I needed to talk to him about what happened because I got scared, you looked sad and upset and I'm your father, it's my job to keep you safe."

" _But it wasn't his fault_."

"Yes, I know that now, that's why I apologized to him."

Malia gave him an incredulous look, still pouting at him. "You did?"

"Yes, and he told me he didn't mean to make you sad."

"He didn't make me sad! He was helping me! He told me his mommy was in heaven like mine and he said she would be proud of me!"

Derek felt his heart literally drop at that. Stiles' mother was dead, just like Paige...

_She just needs someone to relate._

_I mean I know how it's like._

_Oh, God_. Derek had to rub his face with both his hands, he had been a complete asshole. He had snapped at Stiles and he hadn't asked for the other's reason, or arguments, or anything at all, he just stood there and listened to the younger man apologize for _trying his best_ and now Derek felt like he was the worst human being on Earth.

"I- I didn't-"

"He told me his mommy died when he was a little older than me, so he knows what to do when you're sad, he didn't mean to scare you, daddy." Malia grabbed his wrist to make sure Derek was looking at her now. "Please don't be mad at him."

"I'm not, sweetheart, not at all. Daddy just got scared, it's all," Derek hugged his daughter tightly and kissed her hair, the little girl put her arms around his neck and rubbed his back as if she was the one who had to comfort him. "I'm going to apologize again, I promise, it was all a misunderstanding."

"You're not going to take me off the dance class?"

"If you still want to go..."

"I do! Please let me go, daddy!"

Derek smiled at her and kissed her forehead now, he remembered Stiles saying he should take Malia's thoughts into account, that if she didn't feel comfortable he shouldn't make her go back, and here his daughter was begging him not to take her away from the dance group.

"Okay, but eat first and then go change."

Malia beamed at him and showered him in kisses -"Daddy, your beard tickles!"- before she went back to eat her breakfast and run to change into her usual dancing clothes.

Derek could actually feel his heart in his throat now, because taking Malia to dance class meant he had to see Stiles, which at the same time meant he had to face him and apologize for being a dick to him.

He also completely forgot he was supposed to have Waltz lessons with Stiles, even though Derek was pretty sure the other didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.

Sometimes he was glad he had Malia to anchor him, because some days Derek just wanted to punch himself in the face and lay down on the floor for hours.

 

*

"Okay, kids! Position, we're going to start!" Stiles clapped his hands so the kids started to gather in front of him. He plainly ignored the fact that he was like 10 minutes late because he had waited in case Malia came in. "We're going back to the dance I taught you last class, remember some of the-"

"Sorry, I'm late." Malia's shy voice interrupted him from the door and Stiles had to press his lips not to squeal.

"It's okay, sweetheart, we were just getting started." Stiles knew the dark shadow by her side was Derek, but he decided not to acknowledge his presence, he didn't mean to be rude or childish, but he wasn't ready to blush and be nervous in front of children.

"Hi, Malia!" Kyle said waving enthusiastically at her and pointing the spot beside him, the girl accepted the invitation and said goodbye to her father before she left her backpack and took the spot by Kyle's left. Debby was in the front row and she turned around to greet her, the kids had probably thought that Malia was going to miss the class.

Stiles resumed his instructions and the kids followed, a few seconds after he looked at the door, Derek wasn't there.

When the class was done and most of the kids gone, Malia was the only one left and she shyly approached him asking him to crouch a bit, as Stiles did, she put her hands around his neck to give him a hug that made Stiles' heart grow a few sizes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Oh, princess, it wasn't your fault, don't worry!" Stiles comforted her with a hand on her hair, "don't be like that, it's okay."

"Daddy said he got scared because I was sad but he didn't mean to be rude, we're sorry," she broke the hug and looked at him with worried eyes, Stiles made sure to show a calm face, he didn't want to make her feel like she had done something wrong when Malia was actually the most innocent party in this.

"It's okay, princess, I understand," Stiles pushed the hair off her face and made her look at him, "look, it was just a misunderstanding and we're done, so I'm gonna ask you to cheer up, yeah? I don't want you sad or feeling bad about this, it wasn't your fault in any way."

"Okay..."

"So, cheer up for me?" he asked tilting her chin up and smiling at her, to which the girl smiled back and gave him a high five.

"Can my daddy still come for Waltz lessons? The other day he tripped and almost fell on top of me and if he doesn't learn how to pretend dance he's going to look silly in front of everyone at the wedding."

Stiles' heart skipped a beat at that, after all the confusion with Derek he had forgotten about the wedding. Now he remember he liked someone who probably hated him now and who was also getting married soon, and he had to hide his feelings because he had agreed to teach him Waltz for the stupid wedding.

How much could he fuck up? Stiles didn't want to know.

"Uh, sure, if he's still up for it," Stiles stood up when he heard footsteps, it was Derek probably, and this was going to get really awkward super fast.

"Hi, baby girl!" gratefully it wasn't Derek who picked Malia up but his younger sister, Cora, who smiled at her niece and took her stuff after saying hi, "Derek had to stay with a client, asked me to pick my favorite niece so we can have some fun together."

"I'm your only niece, Cora," Malia said smirking.

"And my favorite," she looked at Stiles then and gave him a smile, "thanks for keeping her company."

"No problem," he waved them goodbye, "oh, I hope to see you around my birthday this weekend! Kira said you were both coming."

"Sure, we'll be there."

"Bye, Stiles!" Malia said with a blush, she had tried saying something else but decided against it probably.

Stiles took the time to go to the bathroom and wash his face after the next rehearsal started, he needed some time to clear his head before Isaac came inside and started ordering around positions and really impossible dance steps.

When he got out and went to check his phone, Stiles almost jumped when he saw a dark figure in the room. The man was looking at the mirror wall in one of the sides, both hands on the pockets of his jeans and Stiles had to fight the urge to check him out, which by the way was terribly difficult. The man didn't turn around until Stiles dropped a really shaky "uh..." but he didn't really need to see the face, Stiles knew perfectly well who it was.

As Derek turned around, Stiles could see him gulp in obvious embarrassment and discomfort and almost ran away. He couldn't do this, he just couldn't face Derek right now. Stiles was going to beg for his life.

"Sorry, I couldn't make it earlier."

"Your sister picked Malia, she said you asked her."

"I did, but I still wanted to come here to uh... I-"

Stiles took a deep breath and tried to control the shaking of his voice, "look, it's okay, Malia came to the class and she worked with the others, actually Debby -the little girl she's really fond of- came today and they danced together, it was really cute so... yeah, don't worry."

"No, I wanted to-"

"Oh, she did ask me if you could come to Waltz lessons and I said yes but I will understand if you don't want to see my face more than strictly necessary anymore." Derek shook his head furiously at his last words, which, okay, maybe he wasn't as mad as he thought but Derek still looked like he didn't want to be there at all.

"Don't say that, please and- let me say what I came here to say, please."

Stiles didn't want to let him talk, he wanted to run. Stiles was totally not ready to hear Derek say he had been careless and insensitive, that he was done and that Malia and him were going to leave the school because of his actions.

Stiles shut his mouth, though, it was the only mature thing to do.

"Okay, first I need to tell you how awfully sorry I am, I was a complete idiot and I'm sorry, I had no idea you- that you could... relate to what my daughter has been through. I had no right to treat you the way I did and I... I should have listened to your reasons."

"You couldn't have known." Stiles said after a while in a small voice, too unsure to look up and see Derek.

"No, but I should have asked, and I was blinded by how scared I was of my daughter getting hurt-"

"That's not a bad thing, actually."

"I reacted badly and I apologize, and I'm- I'm so sorry... about everything."

This time Stiles looked up and for the first time he saw Derek completely open up to him, he was embarrassed, a little uncomfortable and above all he looked honest. He looked like he genuinely felt sorry for what had happened.

"Your daughter gets a lot more credit on handling bad situations. Look at us, two adults talking feelings and grief and she just came here, hugged me and said she was sorry for the both of you and just carried on like everything had been magically fixed."

"I hope some of it is fixed."

"Well, most of it, not everything, but most. She's too adorable, could cure a really bad cold with a hug . I'm totally going to call her when I'm down with one." Stiles rolled his eyes at himself for this completely unattractive ramble. _Great, Stiles, keep it up, you're going to look very mature and charming in front of this man... who is 100% engaged_.

Fuck his life.

At least Derek was smiling, it meant he's amused.

Stiles hoped.

"When I told her I had lost my mom she knew how I felt..." Stiles confessed, rubbing his hands together, "she knew exactly what it feels likes, I felt it when she gave me that hug... and it's ridiculous, right? Because it's not the same situation... but Malia gets it. And I'm glad I get to spend some time with her because let me tell you, your daughter is a wonderful little girl."

Derek was looking at him when Stiles lifted his head, and his eyes were tender and filled with pride, which made Stiles let a sigh out, if he had been sitting in a desk he would have played the part of a teenager crushing hard.

"Thank you," Derek said, clearing his throat, he had gotten distracted by something (or maybe uncomfortable with Stiles' behavior).

"I hope you coming here to apologize means that she won't stop coming to class, she's making a lot of progress working with the others."

"As long as she wants to keep coming, I'll bring her," Derek nodded with his head, "I actually- I, well... wanted to know if-"

"Stiles! We start in- oh, sorry to interrupt," Isaac showed his head on the door and shifted his eyes between Derek and him, "uh sorry, man, we start in five, I got the full impossible routine ready."

"I'll be there on time," Stiles answered to which Isaac gave him a thumbs up and disappeared.

"I won't keep you busy, then, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day and... well, just tell you I should have listened to your reasons."

"Apology accepted."

"And the other thing, I... I wanted to know if I could still come for... private lessons." Derek had said that as if it had pained him, which made Stiles smile a bit, this man with all his looks as advantage still had a lot to work on social skills.

Or Stiles made him nervous.

Wishful thinking there, of course.

"Of course you can come, uh... I can't now because we have a long rehearsal right this second but we can resume lessons on Thursday, are we still on time for... the wedding?"

"Yes, still a month and a half to go."

For some reason Derek didn't look as excited as he should be, or maybe wishful thinking hadn't gone away yet.

"Okay, yeah, more than enough time." Stiles grabbed his stuff and opened his water to get a sip as Derek walked with him towards the hallway. "I do advice you to practice with the bride, though, to get used to her... height and movements and... all that."

Stiles tried to ignore the bitter taste in his mouth imagining Derek dancing with a faceless woman dressed in a gorgeous wedding dress.

"I'll try," Derek smiled at him and offered his hand to say goodbye, Stiles took it and after they parted ways he headed to the rehearsal room.

After a few steps he turned around to see Derek leave and he blushed furiously when the other did the same.

He was being the most ridiculous person on Earth. He couldn't wait for next weekend so he could drown this crush in alcohol, maybe get someone to kiss him and press him against a wall, just like he had tried a few days ago.

Stiles had gone out with Allison and Scott and while they had some drinks Stiles hooked up with a tall smiley blond guy who had been eager to take him home. Stiles had said yes and let the guy -Sam was his name, visibly older than him- drag him to the car and down a few blocks to be laid on a table for amazing sex.

He had said goodbye a few hours later though, Sam offered to take him home but Stiles just refused and took a walk, remembering later at his place that neither he had asked for the other's phone nor Sam had given it.

Stiles thought it would get better after that night, that he would suddenly forget about how his whole body reacted when he saw Derek; but no, there it was, blushing when Derek simply turned around to check on him and immediately accepting apologies like it was no big deal.

At least he still got to feel Derek's arms around him when he taught him how to dance the Waltz for his wedding.

The more Stiles thought about it the more he regretted accepting Derek's apology, maybe it was easier to be on bad terms with him, make him stay away for good. Otherwise the illusion of _something_ remained there and Stiles felt like he couldn't move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I was so happy to read your opinions on the argument!! Thank you very much for your attention and interest in this story<3  
> Sorry for the delay, though, I've kind of caught up on what I had corrected and now I'm running in circles, maybe I shouldn't have posted a chapter a week LOL well, what can we do now.
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting<3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Derek is awkward. Shocker. Again. Stiles is 21 yay!!! Celebration! Unlike Teen Wolf the show, this fic embraces the fact that Stiles is bisexual. Also there are two little spies in this party, and by little I mean small, tiny, short spies.  
> Okay, it's Cora and Kira.  
> In an unrelated note, Jackson is starting to sound like a myth, to be honest.

"Daddy, Aunt Laura says she wants to do dress... dress... she says she wants to see how I look with the dresses tomorrow after dance lesson!"

"Okay, is she picking you up?" Derek asked from the sink, Malia was on the phone with Laura talking about what she preferred for the dress. His daughter had finally agreed to be flower girl. Laura asked months ago but Malia refused quietly, too shy to dare walk an isle while dozens of people looked.

Two weeks ago, Malia had surprised them all saying that she could do it if Laura kept her promise of finding someone to braid her hair the way she wanted. Derek had asked her after everyone was gone if she was completely sure, that it was going to be okay if she couldn't do it, but Malia had brushed his concern and smiled at him reassuring him with an excited _"I'm going to look like a princess, daddy!"_

Derek was still uncertain, not that he didn't trust in his daughter's determination but she was shy and little kids got easily scared in front of too many people, he wasn't going to push Malia into something she wasn't ready to do but she insisted she could do it, so Derek had to let her go at her own pace.

He just hoped it was for the best.

"She says she can come get me here, can I go, daddy? She's going to put her dress on! Cora is coming too and we're going to call Grandma so she can see the dress!"

"If you behave at school, you can go after dance practice."

"Daddy says yes!" Malia told to the phone, almost bouncing on her seat, "I'll see you tomorrow, Aunt Laura, love you! Daddy says goodbye!"

"Finish your food, M," Derek sat in front of her to finish his own.

"Aunt Laura says too bad she can't pick me up at the dance school because she wanted to meet Stiles, but she will totally other day."

Derek almost choked on water.

"Aunt Laura likes to think she has free time to go meeting people who are not important to her."

"Stiles is important, he's important to me!" Malia scowled, fiercely protecting Stiles' significance. Derek wanted to pat her head for trying to stand up for an adult who was absolutely capable of doing it himself if Derek had to speak from his own experience.

"I know, kitty, I meant for her, not important for her."

"But he's teaching you how to dance so you don't step on Aunt Laura's feet."

"You're right," Derek sighed, "I guess we could say he's important for her wedding too."

"He's important to _me_ , he calls me 'princess' and he's nice and he braids my hair."

 _And he's cute and has a personality that I'm a bit little in love- oh God_ \- Derek shook his head and cleared his throat. "Hey, I tried braiding your hair but your daddy's hands are too clumsy," he flexed his fingers at Malia making her laugh.

"You make banana pancakes, daddy, I love banana pancakes."

"So, that's why you love me?"

" _Duh_." Malia munched happily on her pancakes and fruit for a moment while Derek went through a report but after she was done, she spoke again, "Daddy, do you like Stiles?"

His pen went flying inexplicably from his hand and landed on the floor and Derek tried to hide the fact that he was a twenty-six year old father actually blushing.

"Daddy, you broke your pen!"

"It's okay, M, I'll go get another one, put the plate on the dishwasher," he walked fast to the office, clearing his throat and willing his blush to disappear while fishing for a new pen in one of the drawers.

"I'm ready to go, daddy!" Malia showed up on the door with her bag and an innocent smile on his face.

"Yeah... okay, yes, let's- uh go."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, let's go, we're going to be late. Did you bring the present?"

"Yes! You didn't answer me!" Malia said when she took his hand to get to the parking lot.

"What question?" Derek was sure he wouldn't be able to avoid it but he could use the extra minutes.

"Do you like Stiles, Daddy?" Malia insisted as she got in the car.

"Well, I-"

"Because if you don't-" Derek closed the door after buckling up his daughter and walked around the vehicle to get to his seat, hoping he didn't look all blushed. This was getting _ridiculous_.

"I don't have to like him, I just have to agree with how he teaches and make sure he's not a bad person," he answered after mentally going through that answer.

"Okay... so you're still mad at him? You don't like him because you had a fight with him?"

"No, that's not it, M. It's not a black and white situation."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means it's either one or the other."

"So you like him!"

Derek was going to say no, he really was going to, but then he turned around a bit to see Malia, who was smiling brightly at him and then he just kept quiet for the rest of the ride to the school.

At least that's what he told himself.

Luckily for Derek Malia lost all her bravery to ask bold questions as they got to the school. Derek -as he had promised- had found out the day of Stiles' birthday so Malia could give him the present in private and his daughter had thanked him and agreed in silence to give Stiles the bracelet.

"You sure you want to do this?" Derek asked when they were both in the elevator.

"Yes...?"

"Don't force yourself to do something, okay? You can give it to him some other day."

"No, I can do it!"

Derek looked around the room Stiles used to practice with the kids and he was alone there, sitting on the floor with a hoodie loosely keeping him warm, probably checking his phone and smirking a bit into the small screen.

"Hi, Stiles," Malia said not too loud and shyly walked to the boy who turned around a second after she spoke. He smiled big at her and went to open his arms so she could give him a hug if she wanted.

"Hi, princess! How are you today? Everything okay?"

Malia nodded and put her bag in the usual place on the side of the front mirror, leaving Derek and Stiles on their own for a few seconds, long enough for them to say hi awkwardly.

"Hi, Mr. Hale." Stiles said in a way Derek hadn't heard before, he couldn't tell if it was shyness or something else.

"Hi, Stiles." Derek answered and waited for Malia to come back. The little girl stood in the middle of both men and cleared her throat to get Stiles' attention.

"Something wrong?" Stiles asked her, crouching in front of her.

Malia shook her head and stretched her arms to show the other the bracelet between her small hands.

"Is that for me?" Stiles asked a little surprised. Malia didn't actually say anything and Derek fought back the urge to help her, she put the bracelet she had made for Stiles in his hand and murmured a very low "Happy birthday."

Stiles opened his eyes wide in surprise and awe, he smiled at Malia and immediately put the bracelet on his right wrist before he gave her a big hug and a kiss on her forehead, "you're the cutest little princess in history, oh my god, I love my present."

Derek was looking the scene from a distance but Stiles looked at him and smiled in such a beautiful way that Derek felt he needed to go there and hug them both.

"How did you know it was my birthday?! This is so pretty, I'm never taking it off," he said, which made Malia beam and answer with more confidence.

"Daddy said he would find out!"

"Oh," Stiles answered with a faint blush, laughing nervously.

"That's not-" Derek tried to sound relaxed and natural but failed, of course, "I just- we heard from Kira, that's all."

Stiles was still smiling when he nodded, accepting that explanation.

Derek had to look the other way, he felt like a creep.

"Red looks nice on you." Malia said with a smile and Stiles put his hand on her hair as a sign of gratitude.

"I- I have to go, I- work," Derek said idiotically as he pointed to the exit, and Stiles nodded at him and tried not smiling in amusement. He looked adorable. Screw Derek's life.

He almost hit himself with the wall on his way out.

 

*

"First legal drink for birthday boy," Boyd said solemnly giving him a shot in his hand as if he was handing the crown of a kingdom, "enjoy it like it was your first."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Stiles winked at Boyd and Erica, who was helping him at the bar, Alicia, Boyd's sister and owner of the place was busy with paperwork and they were kind of short on staff that night.

And also Erica attracted more clientele to the bar, which was great for the tip jar.

Stiles toasted with Lydia, Scott and Allison to the first drink and went after a second one immediately. Stiles was the only one left to be 21 (Lydia had turned 21 two months before) and Isaac didn't drink so they were all very relieved they didn't have to sneak glasses to Stiles anymore.

"Hi Stiles, Happy Birthday!!" Kira tapped his shoulder to greet him, she was wearing a cute black skirt and a leather jacket that probably belonged to her girlfriend who was standing by her side. Cora gave him a short hug too and congratulated him for his birthday, to which he answered with two glasses of some golden liquor.

"Thank you girls, come and have a drink!"

"ID, you two, I don't believe you're a second older than 17," Boyd said making grabby hands at Cora and Kira.

"You're way too nice," Cora deadpanned and handed her ID. Kira just asked for juice.

"Are you having fun?" Kira asked Stiles, who was mock dancing with Lydia and making her laugh.

"Yes! Thank you for coming, you can ask for whatever you want, it's on me, well, on the house but you get it," Stiles winked and Lydia put a glass of what seemed tequila in his mouth.

"Go on, be a good boy, there you go, that's my babe." Lydia patted his chest when he finished the small shot.

"Go easy, I want to actually remember this birthday."

"Say 'I'm single!!'" Lydia had taken her phone out and put it in front of them to take a picture. Stiles said the words with a big smile, hugging her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Oh, that's a great idea," Cora grinned at Kira, who had her phone on her hand already and made Stiles get in between the two of them to take a new picture, "come here, take a picture with us before you pass out on the floor."

"Hey!" he did as commanded, smiling for several selfies with Cora and Kira, they took a group one with Scott and Allison and then another one with Erica, Boyd and Isaac, who was having a blast at the bar, plenty of the girls around him were asking for beers and staying there to talk to him mysteriously forgetting their bottles while doing so.

Stiles went to dance with Lydia and the others for a while and whenever they started drawing attention for their dance steps they went back to the bar to drink. He was having a great time when someone put their hands over his eyes from behind, and he immediately knew who that was, there was only one person who did it, so he turned around and caught her in his arms.

"Cait!! It's so good that you came!" he took a step back and let the girl give him a playful kiss on the lips. She would always kiss him on the lips when they saw each other, they had been going on and off for a couple of years but always ended up agreeing to be friends. Stiles would sometimes call her when he felt like having a good time and Cait would call him if she felt like it too. He knew she was now in a new relationship and it was kind of serious, she had told him months ago that she really liked her, they went camping and studied together, Stiles was happy for her, Caitlin deserved someone who could love her full time.

"Of course I came, what kind of best ex girlfriend do you think I am?" Cait smiled at him while squeezing his cheeks, and made the shy girl by her side step forward, "this is Emily, Emily, this is Stiles, the best guy I ever dated, his favorite hobby is checking boys out with me, he's got impeccable taste."

"Hi, Stiles, I've heard of you," she said. A brunette girl with bangs and a very pretty face shook his hand and wished him a happy birthday with a smile, "I've heard a lot, I was curious!"

"Oh my god, anything she says about me is totally not true, except that thing about me being awesome."

"And modest," Cait rolled her eyes, "he's a great dancer. Oh! There's Allison, we have to talk to her, Emily wanted to take up couple's yoga, come, Em!"

"Lydia and I will be on the dance floor!" he told Cait, who waved at him. He followed Lydia back to the dance floor, not letting go of her hand because it was kind of crowded and Lydia was hard to find when she wasn't wearing ten-inch heels. "Where's Jackson, though?" he asked on Lydia's ear as they danced to the cheerful beat of Starship.

"Ugh, let's not," Lydia made a face that meant she didn't want to talk about it.

"Is everything okay?"

"No, but it'll get better, he's just stressed about college and things." She wasn't really dancing now, just moving from one side to the other with Stiles holding her hands.

"I'd offer to kick his ass, but you say that's barbaric and it'll only make me look like an idiot, since I can't land a good kick on him to save my life."

Lydia hugged him and kept moving to the beat of the song, putting her head on his chest. "Let's stop talking about this and start dancing, oh, I left your present at home."

"I want no present, unless it's a naked man in my bed, then I want it, give it to me right now," he screamed towards Lydia's ear, which made her laugh.

"Sorry, couldn't make Mr. Hot Dance Dad be naked on your bed on time, you'll have to try for yourself." Lydia wiggled her eyebrows, which made her look rather cute and a little drunk.

"Shut up!!" he looked around to check if Cora was around, it would be the most embarrassing thing if she found out about his stupid crush on her brother.

"Just saying, you should be taking advantage of the fact that his sister is here."

"No, Lydia."

"Are you absolutely sure he's getting married?" Lydia asked while they headed back to the bar, Cora was talking to Kira and Isaac a few stools to the right.

"Yes!"

"I don't know, he doesn't look like a groom, and his supposed fiancé has never been to the school to pick the little girl... not once."

"Don't make me think about that, it makes me feel awful. I just wished these private lessons weren't as touchy as they actually are, it doesn't help."

"Sorry, babe," Lydia sighed in sympathy and caressed his hair while he downed another glass, "well find you a new one, male or female this time?"

"You make it sound so easy and mechanical, I love you," Stiles stood up and toasted his drink to Scott, Allison and the others who were now getting closer. "Male," he whispered to her before he got attacked by many hugs.

"Oh my god, I love this [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUSVALW_Z4)," he said when the first seconds of the song started to play and people started to go to the dance floor, "Cait!"

Cait raised her hands and ran to him, took his wrist and dragged him to the dance floor. They had always loved to dance this kind of rhythm and Cait was very proud of successfully learning how to do it.

They got in position and started dancing, Stiles saw Lydia getting there with Isaac on her hand and dancing too while Scott hugged Allison to dance -Scott was the master of this dance, according to Stiles there was no other in the group who could move like him to the sound of _Guantanamera_ , while Allison followed shyly, too bad he never agreed to teach or give them a demonstration.

"Where did you leave your girlfriend?!" he asked Cait while making her spin.

"Oh, she's with Erica. She likes you! I was a little nervous, thought she could be sick of me talking about you."

"Nonsense, I'm a delight." They made another spin, "You should come back to the School, are you taking yoga with Allison?"

"We'll see if we manage, but Emily totally wants to."

"Awesome."

"So, tell me, are you not seeing anyone? Or you and Lydia finally made everyone happy and got together?"

"I see your sarcasm in flashing lights, Cait. I swear to god if I was paid every time people thought Lydia and I are a couple I wouldn't have to work again in my life."

Cait pouted at him and playfully slapped his cheek while they danced in a slower pace. "You make a cute couple, I guess, I don't know, Lydia never really liked me."

"That's not true, Lydia tolerates you, that's saying a lot."

Lydia had never truly liked Caitlin, they talked to each other in general but never actually interacted outside of the group, then Caitlin had started dating Stiles and Lydia's tolerance had gone down for whatever reason.

Cait said it was because Lydia was possessive but she had never done that with any other girlfriend or boyfriend Stiles had had. When Stiles and Cait broke up Lydia had said "well I knew you're better as friends than as a couple," and shrugged and forgot about it. Stiles never asked.

"She's very protective of you." The music had changed to something romantic and slow so Stiles put his hands on Cait's hips and she did the same on his shoulders.

"Let's not start that conversation again, ok?" Stiles waved his hand and tried changing the subject. "So, congratulations, Emily is very nice."

"I know, right? She's gonna be a nurse, super patient, which is like ideal for me."

"You're not that much work, shut up," Stiles laughed when Cait shrugged, "you just need to get your energy out in whatever way."

"Creative and _sexy_ ways, I'd say."

"Obviously," Stiles rolled his eyes and Cait stuck out her tongue.

"I want a drink, let's go back." Cait dragged him to the bar again and asked for drinks.

"Bro, come here!" Scott put his arm around Stiles' shoulders to pull him to Boyd and Erica, who were now holding a birthday cake with a sparkly "21" on top. Everyone around him started singing "Happy Birthday" and when they finished he blew the candles. Someone, Scott -90% sure- whispered "wish for the hot dad, do it!"

Stiles ignored that but when he closed his eyes, he couldn't help thinking about those arms holding his waist and intense green eyes looking right into him as he taught him basic box steps.

 

*

"Hey, bro, am I not the best sister you have?" Cora came into his kitchen with a victorious face, Derek was already scared of asking.

"Depends on the day, really."

Cora sat in front of him at the desk, Derek was checking blue prints while Malia watched some TV in  her pajamas. It was a Sunday so she was allowed to wear pajamas until before lunch. "Don't be mean, I have something awesome here." She waved her phone in front of his face, as if Derek knew exactly what she had there.

"I don't want nor need to see nudes of your girlfriend."

"Those are under super protected passwords, there will be no more accidents." Cora was tapping away on her screen now and after she found what she was looking for, turned around the device and Derek squinted his eyes to focus on it.

It was a picture of Cora, Kira and Stiles. He was smiling and holding both girls with each arm around them, he looked really cute, if Derek was honest. He looked at the picture until the screen turned itself off due to inactivity and then he cleared his throat noticing Cora was looking at him.

"Wow... you were staring." His sister turned the screen on again and swiped her finger to change the picture. Now she showed him another one of Stiles and Lydia hugging, he had his chin on her shoulder and his arms around her middle, she was standing but Stiles was probably sitting because they looked about the same height. They looked great together, Derek's heart gave a tug and he had to remember himself that they were not a couple.

This was absolutely ridiculous, Derek felt like a teenager pining for a unattainable love in high school.

"They are very cute, call each other 'babe', people think they're a couple."

"I know." Derek put his head down fumbling with the blueprints just to do something else.

"But they're not, you know that too." Cora pointed at him with the phone, and then swiped her finger to probably another photo. "Come on, bro, watch this." She handed Derek the phone after she tapped play on a video.

The light wasn't the best because the video was taken inside a club but he clearly saw Stiles dancing to Cuban music with a girl he couldn't identify.

They looked relaxed and like they were having fun, Stiles took the girl by the waist and made her spin sometimes, he saw that they were talking about something and Stiles would roll his eyes or wink and laugh and the girl answered laughing too. They were in sync, not as Stiles would be with Lydia, but Derek could tell they knew each other quite a lot and that they knew how to dance to that certain rhythm.

Derek smiled to himself when he watched as Stiles did a funny move with his shoulders that made the girl laugh. Other people were now looking at them dancing, and the video for a minute focused on Scott and Allison who were dancing a few feet away from Stiles and then went back to the boy and the unknown girl.

"That's Caitlin, an ex-girlfriend I believe." Cora said as the video came to a stop.

"Why are you showing me that?"

"You should see your face when you look at him, bro," Cora put her head on her hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Derek fixed his glasses and looked down at the blueprints.

"Do you want the video?"

"No."

"Do you want one of the pictures?"

"..." _Wouldn't that be kind of creepy_? Derek was quiet, he wanted to have a picture but it sounded way too creepy. He hadn't asked for Stiles permission, what if someone saw it? What if somehow Stiles discovered that picture on his phone?

"I'll take that as a yes."

"No- I mean-"

"You don't want it?"

"Yes! I- I'm trying to decide whether it's creepy or not."

"Consider it done," she chuckled, "I'll email it to you so it's there and not your phone."

"Cora..."

"Listen to me, Derek, listen to me very carefully," she stood up and put both hands on the desk, looking at him with the most serious face he had seen in years, "he is _single_."

"Cora-"

"No, just man up and ask him on a date, I'll freaking volunteer to babysit Malia. He's single, you deserve to be happy, or at least you deserve to have a good time."

"I don't want 'a good time' with him." _I want more than just a moment_ , he told himself.

"So _do something_."

"You don't get it."

"I get it, you're scared he'll reject you, but see it this way: you'll never know until you ask, and you should ask, I know he likes you... _at least_."

"How do you know that?"

"I have two eyes under my eyebrows."

Derek rolled his and stroked his forehead. "He's too young."

"It's barely five years, Derek, you're not thirty or something."

"I don't think he's looking for someone who's six years older than him and has a daughter." He put down the pen he was uselessly holding and put both hands behind  his head.

"Bullshit. He teaches her how to dance twice a week and he's great at it. He likes kids and above all he likes Malia. It's like you're making up excuses, Derek, come on."

"I'm not-"

"Yes, you are, and you know it, stop hiding behind parenthood, Malia is older now and she loves this guy, you have every point covered, and for god's sake I know you know he likes you, you can't be that stupid."

"Hey!"

"He likes you, Derek!" Cora hissed, not wanting to raise her voice so Malia wouldn't hear them.

"Look, I know how I look, he might like my face or whatever but that's it, he's never- I tried... I tried once and he-"

"Wait, what?" Cora made him stop with the palm of her hand in front of his face, waiting for the whole story.

"That's... uh, I tried flirting with him weeks ago, he didn't-... just- I know he's not interested."

Cora looked at him like he was telling the most absurd story of all times. "No, that can't... I'm pretty sure he is."

"You're wrong."

Cora crossed her arms in denial, furrowing her eyebrows. " _You're_ the one who's wrong, dumbface."

"Are you fighting?" Malia came into the room and Cora turned around, "don't fight, please."

"We're not fighting, babe, it's just that your daddy sometimes is too silly to see things he has in front of his dumbface."

"Daddy's not silly! He's smart!"

Derek smiled at his daughter for defending him. He stood up and walked to her to pick her up. "Cora's just joking, go change so we go out for lunch."

"Yay! Is Cora coming?"

"No, babe, sorry, have tons of work, just came to see you and give your daddy a present."

"A present, what present?"

"Something for daddy to see, but he didn't like it that much."

"Cora..."

"Daddy, why?" Malia looked at him worried that he hadn't liked the so-called present.

"I liked it, Cora, thank you."

"Can I see?"

"Sorry, you wouldn't get it, M, it's boring adult stuff."

"You're not an adult," Malia giggled in Derek's arms, which made him giggle too.

"I feel so betrayed." Cora put a hand on her chest and gasped dramatically, walking with Derek and Malia to the girl's room to pick clothes.

A couple of hours later, when Derek and Malia were having lunch together, he felt his phone buzz, opened his email and saw the picture of Stiles, Cora and Kira with a short text.

_"I'm pretty sure you're wrong. I heard him talking to Lydia about liking someone he was also giving private lessons. Be quick or someone else will be."_

Derek almost choked.

He was 100% sure he was the only one getting private lessons from Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my summary sounds like I'm trying to shade the show.  
> I am. I'm shading the show.
> 
> So how is everyone doing?!  
> New chapter here I hope you enjoy it!  
> Slightly longer chapter, and also I had to paste it more than once, word got the text all weird, so I hope that it didn't get all screwed up here! I did check and looks fine but if you notice something, let me know!  
> Thank you very much for all your kind kudos and excited comments :D I'm happy you're all liking this story. I hope you enjoyed that beautiful version of Guantanamera, I personally love it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cora is a very short very intimidating demon and I can relate. Derek is suddenly confident about... stuff.  
> I got the feeling (huuuh huuuh) that tonight's gonna be a- I mean, that we're all gonna frown at Isaac a little bit.
> 
> Also this fic just turned into a cliché of all those dance movies you've watched in your life.

"Okay, guys, pay attention, next class we're doing some work in pairs so be sure to get here so everyone gets a partner! See you on Saturday! Oh, you're early!" Stiles smiled as he said goodbye to some of the kids while Mrs. Parrish waved at him, catching her son's hand to take him home.

Stiles busied himself putting the chairs back in place with Malia's help, who was telling her a pretty funny story about her Math class (she hated Math), he didn't know who was picking her up this time but butterflies in his stomach told him better not be Derek.

"Baby girl, are you ready?" Cora stepped into the room and the little girl went running to get her bag, "hi Stiles, how are you?"

"Good, thanks, you?"

"Fine, Derek will be here in a minute," she took Malia's hand.

"Sure. Bye, princess! See you next class!"

Cora just stood there and looked at him weirdly, like she wanted to ask something or probably conduct an interrogatory.

"Did you need something?" he asked, Stiles started to feel a bit suspicious, Cora had very intimidating eyes.

"Nope, just... are you single?"

"What?"

"Why are you asking him that? You have Kira!" Malia said horrified, while Stiles tried to recover from that question.

"Baby, I don't like boys, you know."

"Daddy says it's rude to ask people personal questions."

Stiles was going to run away if this conversation was leading to Derek.

"Yeah... your daddy says a lot of stuff," Cora smiled and looked at Stiles.

Oh god, she knew, she totally knew Stiles liked Derek, didn't she? He was screwed.

"Uhm... Cora, I-" he wanted to apologize, to say something, tell her he wasn't going to act on it, that he would never get in between her brother and his fiancée.

"Stiles, I have a problem and I thought you'd be able to help me but apparently I was wrong, you're not helping."

Stiles really wanted to go hide under his bed now.

"Cora, what are you doing?" Malia tugged at her aunt's wrist, worried that she might be picking a fight with Stiles.

"I am helping, I'm being respectful," Stiles said, feeling like he was exposing all his secrets before Cora, "I promise."

Cora furrowed her eyebrows, probably waiting for the person who was most likely planning on ruining her brother's wedding to say something better than that.

"Whatever, just, do _something_." Cora pointed out before taking a very confused Malia out of the room, leaving Stiles with his heart beating like crazy and scared to death now that he knew Cora knew about his absolutely ridiculous and equally painful crush.

He came out of his mild panicked state when Derek's steps approached. Stiles cleared his throat and turned around to smile at him.

"Hi, sorry, I was with a client." Derek apologized and left his stuff on the usual chair, he looked amazing today, simple dark blue Henley and dark jeans, comfortable sneakers and messy hair, it made him look younger and even more attractive and Stiles wanted to die.

"That's okay, I'll turn the music up."

"So, we've been practicing, I haven't stepped on Laura's feet that much."

Derek was in position when Stiles walked to him, he felt tingly all over, he seriously wanted to just run and kiss him and apologize later, he felt like if he didn't do it now he would never be able to do it. How would Derek react if Stiles kissed him? Would he pushed him hard and demand explanations? Would he let him have that moment and forgive him later? Would he stop Stiles and take Malia to never come back?

When Derek put one of his hands on his back, Stiles licked his lips and sighed, completely aware of the fact that Derek was mere inches away from him and could probably pick on every small movement he made.

As the music started playing, Derek followed the steps, not stepping on him once, he was getting better and Stiles realized it was because he had obviously been practicing with the bride.

Stiles sometimes wondered how she looked, she had to be a great woman, she had to like Malia, play with her, teach her things Derek wouldn't be able to teach her (or too embarrassed to do so), she had to be a hard working woman if she couldn't pick Malia, or maybe she dropped her at school and made her lunch-

"Is there something wrong?"

Stiles didn't notice he was out of sync and Derek was now looking at him with worried eyes.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, I'm distracted."

"Did you have fun on your birthday?" Derek asked him, like trying to get him out of that awkward state, Stiles followed his lead suddenly proud at Derek's determination to get practice right.

"Yeah, it was nice, we danced and drank... legally."

"Cora showed me some pictures... oh, I- I hope that's okay with you, she didn't show me any... inappropriate stuff..."

"Sure, if you don't mind my unfortunate face after a few drinks," Stiles rolled his eyes, too self-conscious of his face now that Derek told him he had seen pictures of his birthday. God he had taken some awful pictures that night.

"There's nothing unfortunate about your face," Derek smirked and tilted his head looking at Stiles.

Jesus Christ this man had _no idea_.

Stiles blinked and opened his mouth to say something but actually couldn't find a proper answer, not one that would leave his dignity intact, no.

"Uh... sorry," Derek was distracted for a second so he stomped on Stiles, who jumped at the incident.

"No worries, let's try a few turns so you can show off on the big day," Stiles stopped and stood in front of Derek. "You said she's a pretty good dancer, right, so I assume she knows how to do a turn."

"She's taken some classes before, yes."

Weird. Why would bride and groom take separate classes? Whatever, it wasn't his business.

"We're gonna practice a very simple turn, nothing too fancy that would make you trip or drop her. First let's take position," Stiles let Derek put his hands on each place, since they had been doing this a lot, the older didn't have much trouble going back to the initial position, he brought Stiles closer to his body and looked at him waiting for instructions.

If Stiles were a horrible person (than he already was) it would only take him a couple of seconds to literally climb Derek and kiss him fiercely, but no, he liked Malia and Derek and wouldn't ruin his weird relationship with ghost bride.

His fantasies would only stay in his mind.

"Okay, let's do half a box step and I'll teach you where to put your arms and feet [while the... girl turns](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjFR9E5CHaM)," they did as Stiles commanded, Derek focused on not doing anything wrong and when the moment came to do a turn, Stiles instructed Derek to open his arms a little and give him space. Derek looked confused at first but after a few tries he got a hold of it. "The only thing you really need to worry about is to meet her after the turn is over so it'll look in sync and elegant, it won't be cute if you crash into each other, really."

"No, and she'll kill me, this is a big deal for her," Derek said sighing as if this was something he didn't want to do.

Wishful thinking, wishful thinking, _wishful thinking_.

"Let's try again, don't worry about extra effort, this is not So You Think You Can Dance."

"Malia makes me watch that."

"I bet she does." Stiles said with a smile while he turned once again and Derek took a step forward to go back to the initial position.

Something happened -Derek was looking at him probably thinking about something else- that made them miscalculate the distance so when Stiles went to get Derek's hand he actually grabbed his forearm while the other got way too close and bumped into Stiles.

Of course, Derek's immediate reaction was to catch him with both arms firmly around his hips, Stiles' mouth was now touching Derek's shoulder and his arms were grabbing at the other's biceps, probably out of surprise.

There were a few seconds in which Stiles could swear he felt Derek's nose on his shoulder and his breath tickling part of his collarbone.

Stiles wanted to end the awkward position, he really did, but couldn't bring himself to do it, especially because for some reason Derek's arms wouldn't leave his waist.

Oh God, Derek's mouth was now getting closer to his neck, probably to tell him to just let go.

Stiles heard nothing but his heartbeat and Derek's breath on his neck, and after what felt like hours, Stiles pulled away from the other, with his eyes down on the floor, too scared of looking up at Derek and see something that would make him do stupid things.

That was when he felt Derek's nose on his cheek and at the same time he noticed Derek's hands were still on the same place around his waist. It was such a sweet gesture that Stiles wanted to hold onto the other man and never let go but he knew this was incredibly wrong. They were so close to each other that Stiles could feel the warmth coming off Derek and the muscles on his arms... and then Derek's lips where on Stiles cheek, the same place his nose had caressed so tenderly.

Stiles was shaking.

His hands wouldn't respond and he was scared of looking up. The only thing he managed to do was turn his face a little to see Derek's: the older man was now looking at his lips, waiting for a sign to keep going or stop. Stiles put his hands on Derek's chest and whispered in shaky voice, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Okay." Derek said, still looking at his lips.

"De..." he wanted to say something, insist on this being a terrible idea, but somehow he kept silence, moved his hands up until they were on Derek's shoulder and let the other step closer and closer, actually moving his feet until they bumped on the mirror wall behind Stiles.

Derek was smiling a little, just a very soft smile coupled with his such tender look Stiles would jump him in three seconds. He let Derek get closer to him, so close that Stiles felt the other's lips on him and then everything was over.

Stiles couldn't do this, he couldn't. This was not the person he thought he was, he wouldn't be the lover, he couldn't be that and look at Malia the same way. He just couldn't kiss Derek and indulge on his fantasies and ruin Derek's relationship like this.

"We're gonna get caught," he whispered when Derek was so close to him that articulating those words made them touch each other's lips.

"I don't-"

When Derek was whispering back to him, they both had to jump away from each other as they heard several steps on the hallway, probably belonging to the dance group that was coming in to dance.

Stiles sobered up and suddenly felt the shame of almost enabling cheating. _Oh my God._

Isaac saved him the apology he was forming because he popped his head into the Room and told him "Hey! We're here, we start in 3!"

"I'm going," Stiles said, noticing his voice was still shaky. _Fuck_. "I- I'm gonna go. I'm... so sorry."

Derek was looking at him (had been looking at him the whole time, maybe) and just nodded and smiled, letting him take off and try to forget about that because it was definitely _not_ gonna happen again.

After he got home he was going to take all the cold showers he could possibly endure, but this had to stop.

 

*

Derek was smiling like an idiot, he knew it and he didn't care.

He couldn't make himself stop though. His head kept repeating the moment in his head, how nice Stiles felt in his arms, how good he smelt, how soft his lips looked...

Damn, he had waited too long, and now he had to go home and think of that almost kiss and how good it would have felt.

He had had a dream the night before: He went into the Room for his private class and went straight to Stiles and kissed him right there, fully on the lips, with his hands on Stiles' face and pressing him against the wall, later he picked him up and kissed his neck and as Stiles started laughing in his arms because 'that tickles, Derek' he woke up with a hard on that wouldn't let him go back to sleep before running to the bathroom in the middle of the night and try to keep as quiet as possible like he was a damn teenager.

That had been his initial plan but he figured he didn't want to look so aggressive and it was probably a bad idea to just show up and kiss Stiles without asking him out for a cup of coffee or something first. Derek wouldn't know, he hadn't done this in a couple of years, he had never been really good with people in general.

When he arrived at the Dance School and went up to their usual room he had seen Stiles and forgotten all his ridiculous plans, he didn't want to ruin everything  by scaring him with a kiss, he wasn't even sure Stiles liked him that much.

And then the opportunity came and Derek told himself that if he missed this he would never forgive himself, he had to try, hold Stiles, give him the choice to say no, go slow and kiss him if he wanted to, maybe ask him for coffee afterwards.

He had never been the luckiest guy on Earth and of course he had waited too long and ruin the moment. If he hadn't been distracted he would have done it before and Isaac would have maybe  caught them in the middle of the kiss but hey, Derek would have taken that shot.

The fact was that they hadn't even kissed and he was smiling like an idiot while driving home.

_He really likes me_. He told himself chuckling in victory inside the car, feeling like he was in high school all over again.

Derek couldn't stop thinking about Stiles in his arms, blushing and licking his lips, telling him that they were going to get caught. _"I don't care,"_ Derek wanted to say _"Let me kiss you, please."_ The minute he saw in Stile's eyes that he wanted the kiss too, Derek had felt the desire building up in his gut, he wanted to pick Stiles up, push him against the wall and kiss him (among other things).

He couldn't believe he was still happy after getting interrupted because he took too damn long. Maybe it was a sign, maybe it was God telling him he should think this through and plan something better than just showing up and kiss Stiles.

What if Stiles didn't like that approach? Derek couldn't risk it.

_He actually likes me._

Derek was going to try something different, of course, but he wasn't going to let that piece of information go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you've noticed I'm now updating a chapter every two weeks instead of weekly like at the start, the thing is I'm running out of chapters that are already written and checked for mistakes D: (I always do this to myself I will never learn jfc)  
> I haven't had much time to write but I'm doing my best, I promise I won't abandon this story, I love it too much.
> 
> Thank you all for your comments and kudos, you GIVE ME LIFE<3


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is here to prove that there are many thing that can go wrong. Also, how many times can you misunderstand things, that's the real question.  
> The Hales need a lesson or two on explaining things.  
> Everyone in this story needs that lesson, tbh.

_Lydia, talk._

_What?_

_Something happened._

_What, Stiles??_

_I almost kissed Derek._

His phone rang mere seconds after he pressed "send".

_"Oh my God!"_

"I know, I'm a horrible person."

 _"Oh my God, Stiles!"_ Lydia shrieked in excitement.

"Lyds, please, I need your brain." Stiles sighed and put his head on the kitchen table. "Can you come over? Are you busy?"

_"It's Saturday, I'm on my couch watching TV, you come over."_

"You're alone?" Stiles asked confused, normally Jackson would be there with her.

_"Jackson is at his parents' house, his mom's birthday."_

"Oh."

_"Are you coming over?"_

"Fine, order some pizza, I'll be there in ten."

_"Be careful, babe, see you in ten."_

Stiles hung up and took his keys and jacket. As he drove through the city, he replayed the moment in his head, trying to find the sign that told him that Derek had made a mistake and he regretted it but nothing, nothing came up, he had been so normal, so relaxed, so... charming.

Why was Derek Hale engaged? Why was life such a bitch? Why did Stiles insist on being a better person? Most importantly how was he supposed to act normal around him? Around Malia?

Oh God, Malia, that precious little girl who had no idea he was most likely ruining her daddy's marriage before it even started.

When he got to Lydia's place, she was waiting for him with warm pizza and beer, he sat by her side and started talking, only being interrupted by Lydia's squeaks of excitement.

"Am I a horrible person for just letting it happen?" he asked when he was done with the story.

"No, you're just a person with hormones."

"But this is wrong."

"You're single, he's the one getting married, if you ask me, he's the horrible person, not you."

"But I know he's getting married, that makes me his... I don't know, almost lover or something? What if he's doing this with other people? Oh God-"

"You're freaking out, don't freak out." Lydia put a bottle in his hand while biting her slice of pizza. "You didn't even kiss, _don't_ freak out."

"We were going to, if I hadn't said something and if Isaac-"

"But you didn't, that means you can still back off and tell him you're uncomfortable with the whole thing."

Lydia was right -as always-. He still had the chance to tell Derek how he felt, as horribly embarrassing that might sound.

"Right..."

"Because you want him to stop, don't you?" she asked with suspiciousness, perfectly aware of Stiles' answer.

He just stared at her in silence, not even trying to lie to his best friend.

"Stiles... we don't get involved with married people."

"I know... it's just that-"

"What? You really think no one will end up hurt if you pursue this?"

Stiles drank from his beer, thinking about how incredibly gentle Derek's eyes were when they got closer and almost kissed. Was that all a show? Was that just a role he played to get his way? Was Derek really this awful player he was picturing now?

"I just don't think he's a bad person."

"I think you're too into this guy, you like him so much you don't think he could be an asshole, it's called romanticizing and you're prone to it." Lydia and her brutal yet on-point honesty.

"Yeah, well... I- I have no excuse for that but I might make one up after a few rounds."

"Sure, babe." Lydia patted his arm and let him get comfortable on the couch.

"Where's Jackson anyway?"

"At his parents', I told you."

"Oh, right, so, how are things with him?"

"Better, he just... has a lot on his plate, he likes being left alone when that happens, you know."

"I know. Are you okay with that?"

"As long as he calls to tell me he's still alive, I'm good," she shrugged but Stiles knew as days passed she became increasingly worried about Jackson, he hoped the other would come back to Lydia soon. Jackson wasn't the nicest person on the Earth but he loved Lydia and that's what counted for Stiles anyway. "What are you going to do about the hot dad?"

"I don't know... I kind of want to ask him what's up, he knows I know he's getting married, I'm teaching him how to do the first dance, for god's sake! But... I don't dare."

"Huh..." she made a pause looking at Stiles like he had grown a third eye, "you've never had that problem before."

"I get all weird around him." _Weird and embarrassing_.

"Well, tomorrow's Sunday so you don't have to cross that bridge yet, we'll figure it out later, we weren't top of the class for nothing."

"That's right," he raised his bottle towards Lydia, who did the same.

"Let's go out tomorrow, I want to buy a new laptop, come with me I'll buy you lunch."

"I'm gonna marry you."

"If Jackson doesn't ask, of course you will."

Lydia kissed his forehead and took another beer for them, she began telling him about new plans for the School and what she wanted to get for her Mother's birthday. Stiles forgot about the almost kiss for a few hours but then the ache in his chest came back, when he was sleeping in the couch and dreaming about no interruptions, no words and no regrets.

That Sunday Lydia and Stiles went into some stores (Stiles wasn't stupid to think Lydia wouldn't go and buy at least 3 new outfits even though she only wanted to get a new laptop, so he was psychologically ready for that trip) from which somehow he ended up getting two new pairs of jeans and a jacket and now they were on their way to a café for some lunch.

"That'll fit nicely, you should wear it to work, especially when Mr. Hot Dance Dad goes for classes," Lydia winked at him.

"Stop." Stiles sighed as they sat, he put the bags on the seat next to him. "I can't wear those for work anyway, I can barely move."

Something stung in his chest when he remembered Derek and his smile while Stiles was most definitely still shocked as they parted ways. Was everything a joke? Was Derek not happy about his future marriage that he had tried to kiss Stiles? Was it just something Derek had felt like doing? Was he aware of the fact that Stiles wanted to do just that?

The thing that made Stiles feel worse was that whenever he imagined how it would be to kiss Derek it was followed by Malia's sad face asking him why he had done that and Stiles' chest would _ache_.

"You okay, babe?" Lydia put her hand on his, he had probably spaced out for a few seconds, "let's not talk about that for now," she winked and caressed his forearm when he nodded at her.

"Stiles!"

He almost jumped when he heard his name and a very well-known voice. In any other situation he would greet Malia excitedly but Stiles had been so worried about the whole Derek issue that seeing her was not an improvement, as much as he adored the little girl. He looked around and tried to see where she was but it was Saturday and there were a bunch of people walking around. He heard another "Stiles!" closer and Lydia whispered "there" and pointed at Malia, who was getting closer to him.

As she came running he noticed there was a woman following her step, she was tall, had dark hair and piercing eyes and was definitely carrying at least three bridal magazines.

_Oh my god._

"Oh my god," Stiles whispered as he stood up from his seat and crouched in front of Malia to give her a hug, desperately trying to calm down. This was Derek's girlfriend, fiancée, _actual bride_. "H-hi, princess, how are you? What are you doing here?"

"I came with Aunt Laura, she's picking a bucket!"

"It's a bouquet, flowers, honey."

"Oh..." Stiles looked up when Malia pointed at the woman that corrected the little girl, she was smiling and had greeted Lydia, who went to stand by his side (in moral support, of course), "hi, sorry, I didn't see you. I'm-"

"Stiles, of course you are," she offered her hand and he took it, she didn't stop smiling, her green eyes staring at him with something that Stiles could only recognize as curiosity. "I'm Laura, brought this little kitty to get her hair test, she's my flower girl."

"You'll be the prettiest flower girl, I'm positive." Stiles winked at Malia who was blushing as she went back to take Laura's hand.

He had been absolutely wrong about everything, the fact that this woman never picked Malia up from class didn't mean she didn't care, they were obviously close and Malia was as comfortable with her as she was with her own father, enough to put her arm around the other's leg, just like she used to do with Derek.

Stiles cleared his throat and put a hand on Lydia's back, "this is Lydia, sorry, she's the Ballet teacher at the school."

"Yes, Malia's mentioned you, she's loving your classes, guys." She put her hand on Malia's hair and the little girl smiled up at her. Stiles' heart skipped a beat, the moment when Derek's breath tickled his lips came back and almost hit him in the face.

"She's a very enthusiastic student, I gather," Lydia said hooking her arm on his to make him come back to reality.

"Y-Yes, one of my favorites."

"Listen, I'm so glad we ran into you," she got closer to him and put her hand on his other arm, "I've been wanting to thank you for what you're doing with Derek."

_Oh my Goooooood. I'm done, this is how I die, she's going to kill me right here in front of Malia, and I deserve it. Probably._

"Oh, no, n-no problem."

"No, really, I know you're responsible for it and he actually doesn't stomp on my feet now, it's great, it's all thanks to you!" Laura smiled big at him and Stiles wanted to run in the opposite direction.

"Daddy's been practicing with us!" Malia pointed out excitedly.

"I'm glad he's practicing, I told him to do it with the bride, it's- it's good that you're practicing together." He said trying to hide his blush by scratching his nose.

"You guys were right, he's both cute and a great teacher." Laura winked again at Malia and she giggled.

"You're wearing my present." Malia said looking at his left hand, she looked a little shocked but it distracted him from Laura's inquiring eyes for a moment.

"Of course I am, I wear it every day," he said, showing her the bracelet.

When he looked at Laura, he saw a particular expression on her, she wasn't suspicious anymore, more like... surprised? Or maybe... happy? Pleasantly surprised? Stiles was going for 'pleased'. That was weird. This whole situation was so weird and painful and bad for his heart.

"We have to go, M, it's getting late." Laura patted Malia's shoulder and the girl nodded and said goodbye, Laura put both her hands on his and looked straight to him with her bright green eyes. Thank you, really, for everything, for teaching Derek and being patient and for everything you've done for Malia. I really appreciate it, we all do. Derek is _so_ happy with you."

Stiles was going to cry.

"Don't mention it." He answered with perfectly still voice and -according to him- not showing a sign of actually freaking out on the inside.

"I hope to see you again! Say bye, M!"

"Bye, M!!" Malia waved at them and took Laura's hand to go back to wherever they were heading to, leaving Stiles trying to calm his beating heart and Lydia under the impression that if she let him go he would faint.

Jesus, this was so not him. He wasn't like this, he didn't let anything get to him like this. This was humiliating.

"She kinda looks like him. Creepy." Lydia said, leading him back to their table.

"I am weak," he falling on his seat, "I thought she was going to rip my eyes out."

"You're being paranoid."

"I am not."

"Calm down, don't freak out, this is not how I raised you, honey."

"She totally knows there's something going on, I could feel it. She was _staring_ at me."

"I have to agree on that." Lydia was signing a waitress to take their order, Stiles might have lost all his appetite. "It wasn't like she was trying to make you break and admit something, though, it was more like she was... evaluating."

"Evaluating? What does that even-? And what did she want? What was all that 'Derek is so happy with you'?! I can swear she _winked_ at me."

Lydia stopped paying attention to him and started ordering, the waitress was friendly and kind while she walked them through the menu. Stiles, on the other hand, was a fidgety mess and ended up picking something the waiter had recommended. "You think she's observing your every move so she can know if you're interested in her fiancé?"

"Yes."

"Babe, sweetie, lost twin of my life," Lydia took his hand and gave him a smile that made Stiles back up a little, "I'm gonna be completely honest and I need you to absorb my every word: You feel guilty and guilt makes you paranoid."

He was going to answer but he didn't find a 'no' to blurt out. Lydia was right, she was actually on point; he was feeling guilty and that made him paranoid, maybe he was projecting, thinking Laura wanted to find something by looking at his reaction and making him nervous with her stare.

"I have to get my shit together, I can't keep reacting like this whenever I cross a Hale, how many of them are there anyway?!" he said as the waiter arrived with their order, "-Thank you- what if someone guesses the worst? What if they go talk to Laura and tell her things that are very untrue?"

"It's a technicality really, he did try to kiss you, Stiles, if there's someone who did wrong here it's him, you're single and have been passive about all this, which is very shocking might I add."

"I'm full of surprises." He put a bunch of fries on his mouth and munched focusing on enjoying the food, after a few seconds he sighed staring at his plate. "I really like him."

Lydia was quiet for a while, her green eyes looking softer now that he was being honest and saying it out loud. She saw him biting on the inside of his cheek, eyes down in defeat and pushing his food around the plate, the next thing she did was to give him an understanding smile and a caress on his cheek full of sympathy. "I know, babe."

"I don't want to be the bad guy."

"You don't have to." Lydia was running her hand through the side of his head now in comfort. "Promise you will talk to him, ask him what he's doing, he has to tell you that at least."

Stiles was quiet but looked at her and nodded, building the courage to get ready for that conversation. It was that or dying of both sexual frustration and anxiety. He had to know what was on Derek's mind.

 

*

Derek's brain hurt by now, the lines on the blue prints now getting blurry after hours and hours of studying it and checking that everything was okay. He was definitely going to buy Laura lots of food, she had taken Malia hours ago, allowing him to get everything done for Monday's big presentation.

As he took his glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes while he stretched on his seat, Derek heard the door open and Malia's voice chatting excitedly with Laura. He stood up and went to meet them, opening his arms for his little girl to rush and hug him.

"Daddy! We picked my hair for the wedding, it's gonna be awesome!"

"That's great, M, did you have fun?" Derek kissed her forehead before she climbed on his shoulders. Laura was carrying bags of food, so she went to the kitchen bar to get cartons out of them.

"Have you eaten?" Laura asked.

"I- I'm not sure."

"We bringed food!"

"Brought," Derek smiled and corrected Malia as he went to help Laura get some plates.

"Brought food!"

"We ate, don't get so many plates," Laura waved at him and Malia nodded.

Derek helped Malia off his shoulders and into a stall, "thanks, I just noticed I'm starving." He took a cartoon with fried rice and started eating. "Did you get your bouquet?"

"It's gonna be stunning, we loved it, didn't we, M?"

"Yes, it's yellow and pretty... Daddy! Aunt Laura met Stiles! He was with Lydia!"

Derek stopped eating and his heart started beating fast as he lowered the fork from his mouth. "What?" he looked at his sister, who was smiling and faking absolute innocence.

"He's nice," she simply said.

"He's super cool, Auntie!"

Derek and Laura now were holding a staring contest and he knew that he was going to be the one to lose. Laura picked a fortune cookie up and gave it to Malia.

"M, go wash your hands, let Daddy eat his food." Laura instructed Malia without batting an eyelash.

Derek had stood up to get a bottle of water from the fridge when Laura turned around and looked at him with a psycho killer smile.

What the _hell_.

"He's really cute, Derek."

"Shut up."

"Why exactly aren't you all over that? He likes you."

"Laura, please."

"Derek, please." Laura looked pointedly at him, not giving up. His sisters were going to kill him one day.

"I tried." Derek whispered to her, getting closer to the fridge and after making sure he heard Malia coming out of the bathroom and turn the TV on.

"You _what_?" Laura asked all excited.

"I- well, something happened, could have happened... I don't know."

"Be clear, Derek."

"We almost kissed." Derek stopped talking when Laura, an adult serious woman who was getting married in a few weeks, squealed.

"How? When? Is that why he blushed when I introduced myself? Oh my god, he's really cute and weird, Derek."

Derek was going to say 'yes, he is', but he managed to keep himself from saying it, he wanted to remain the adult on this conversation. "I think it's weird for him that I'm one of her student's dad, I don't know."

"You said 'almost'."

"Yeah, I didn't get to kiss him... we got interrupted."

"And what did he say?"

"He said he didn't want to get caught." Derek looked away remembering Stiles' breath on his lips, his voice low and intimate and warm. They had been so damn close.

"Ugh, you're killing me, brother, you have to do something!"

"I know I just... I haven't had the time to go and see him."

Laura was smiling so big and her eyes were shining so much Derek was scared she was plotting some evil master plan in her head.

"Laura, listen to me, please, I'm begging you here: Please don't do anything to help me."

"But-"

"No, I'm serious, I don't want you to help, I don't need your help, I promise I'll do something. But please, _please_ don't do anything. Just let it be."

"I just want you to be happy."

"I know, I appreciate it, and I know you think you could help but you won't, trust me."

"Fine, but only because you're asking nicely and I'm already stressed about my own wedding." Laura sighed and crossed her arms.

"Thank you." Derek sighed too, but in relief.

"Just let me add something."

"What?"

"I wasn't messing with you when I said he's cute and weird, he is, and above all, he really does like Malia. He wears the bracelet she made for him and she was so excited, it was disgustingly adorable."

Derek didn't know Stiles wore that present every day and picturing Malia's absolute delight at seeing him wearing the bracelet was enough to make his chest feel warm and nice.

"I know, she has a crush on him..."

"Like father like daughter," Laura picked a fortune cookie and winked at him while she opened it.

"What did you tell him, exactly?"

"Who do you think I am, Derek?" Laura asked offended but Derek resumed his eating and raised an eyebrow at her. "I thanked him for everything, you know, it's thanks to him that I'm getting the First Dance we agreed on."

"Dad would have been better at this." Derek said stuffing his mouth with lukewarm fried rice.

"I know but this is what he wanted."

"What else did you tell him?"

"Oh my God, Derek, I didn't say anything about you, just that I was grateful and I appreciated his patience because you're clearly not the best dancer in this family."

"Still better than Cora, though."

"I didn't have to say anything, anyway, I just wanted to see how he is and I'm glad, he's pretty good-looking, cute face and all that, a little weird, like I said."

"You probably creeped him out."

"I'm a delight, Derek." Laura was quiet for a few seconds and then she snorted, they were both leaning on the kitchen bar while Derek ate from a carton, whispering about her little brother's crush, it suddenly felt like they were back in high school. "The girl who was with him could kill with looks, you know?"

"Lydia? Yeah, Cora says they're best friends, I thought they were dating."

"I heard. She was looking at me the entire time and never let go of him, like she was protecting him or something... let me tell you, though, this boy doesn't need protection."

Derek smirked a bit into the carton as he remembered the time they argued about Malia being upset, he recalled Stiles' determined eyes and firm voice even if Derek still noticed he was feeling guilty because Malia was sad.

"You're thinking about him."

Derek nodded in silence, feeling his sister giving him a soft bump in support.

"He could be good to you, I'm positive, you just have to talk to him, try to kiss him again, maybe, ask him out, something."

"I know, I promised, right?"

Laura smiled at him and kissed his forehead, they both turned around when they heard Malia's tired voice from the living room.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy."

"Coming, kitty." Derek left the half empty carton on the kitchen table and went to pick his daughter, she had to take a bath before going to bed. Laura closely followed them into the bathroom to help and keep both her brother and niece company for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHAPTER YAY!  
> Ok so I have to be honest, I checked this chapter a few weeks ago like 3 times but something can always slip and I haven't had the time to check again, I'm just starting a new job so my time goes to that.  
> Anyway, thank you SO MUCH for all the comments you leave here in every chapter, I love that you're into this story.
> 
> *EDIT*  
> So most of the comments were pointing this to me and I just realized we're experiencing a cultural difference, so I just wanted to explain, it's not going to fix the mistake but I wanted to clear it out because I really don't want to make Stiles an idiot.  
> Here in my country little kids call "aunt" and "uncle" their parents' siblings and some relatives and ALSO adults who are familiar with them and their family in general (parent's friends, for example). It means that here where I live calling Laura "Aunt Laura" doesn't necessarily mean she's Derek's sister, and since Stiles and Lydia are very much convinced that Derek is getting married to this Laura, it didn't feel like he should feel different about that "aunt".  
> Now, I understand that this was a mistake and I'm willing to change it but I really don't want Malia calling Laura only by her name like Cora, I wanted to make a difference there, but if there isn't any other choice, then I'll have to do it, like I said I don't want Stiles and Lydia to seem dumb, that's not what I planned for this story.
> 
> Thank you VERY much for the comments and feedback, it helps me improve my writing and being more careful with what I write, I just learned something new, I had no idea Americans didn't call other adults aunts and uncles D:!  
> That's all, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding! (oh the irony)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like a Tango to make things go as intense as possible, right Derek?
> 
> "Derek suddenly felt like laughing and that was what he did. It didn't help of course, Stiles now was looking at him like he had said something incredibly offensive."

The next time Derek went to the studio, he greeted Andrea -whose hair was now a vibrant shade of purple and hot pink- and the girl immediately pointed another Room, mouthing that Stiles was practicing with Isaac.

He almost got a heart attack when he got to the Room and saw Stiles standing very very close to Isaac, smiling in a way that didn't belong in a public space and holding the other's hands like they were about to hug and kiss.

Of course then Derek noticed there were other people sitting on the floor looking all excited and expectant and he concluded they were in the middle of practice and not actually kissing.

"If you drop me I'm gonna fucking kill you," Stiles said with a smile on his face and Derek found that to be very exciting.

"A little faith, please."

"Yeah... no."

"Fuck you, it was one time... or five." Isaac said as they practice with one of his hands on Stiles' lower back, the latter bending over backwards as far as he could stretch, Derek saw that he wasn't wearing shoes, probably made the lifting part easier or something.

Derek felt a little tingly if he was being honest with himself.

It was a good thing they all were minding their own business and hadn't noticed him standing on the entrance with a bunch of other people who were almost jumping up and down in anticipation for the demonstration. Apparently and according to the short girl by his left side, this was one of the best performances by Isaac and Stiles.

At first the boys were just moving around practicing some really hard foot work and Isaac warming up for the lifts which, in Derek's humble not-expert opinion, were going to be kind of dangerous.

He saw them practicing one of the lifts in which Isaac had to hold Stiles up by the waist while they spun around very fast and made it look so easy that Derek had to wonder if it would be as easy as it looked to hold Stiles up like that.

He cleared his throat and shifted in his spot as the girl on his left squealed when Stiles was held up high by one hand, only steadying himself on Isaac's shoulder and not really looking that scared of being dropped, it seemed like they had practiced this a lot.

"You've lost weight."

"Shut up." Stiles struggled to keep himself still for another second when he failed and fell on Isaac's arms. Derek saw that the blond was used to that as he naturally caught the other in his arms and Stiles immediately let go and went to put his shoes on. "Okay, like I said, I'm going to kill you if you drop me."

"Whatever, dude, just come here." Isaac gestured Stiles to get to their spot and put one hand on the other's back and held his right, they were very close to the other from the waist up, Stiles' face was glued to Isaac's neck, the blond taller than Stiles and Derek himself by an inch at least.

When someone pressed play, the music started and they began to move, complicated intertwined steps accompanied by the famous [Tango de Roxanne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6-6kN79oIA) that everyone had been crazy about a few years ago and suddenly all Derek could see was Stiles in Isaac's arms, moving around like he weighed nothing at all.

The first lift was quick and over fast, Isaac lifting Stiles swiftly, the other stretching his legs and falling back to the ground like a feather to be carried back into a sharp movement that had him almost kneeling on the floor. Derek didn't really know where to look first, he wanted to focus on Stiles' body moving around being almost manhandled by Isaac, but then got distracted by his serious face and his forehead touching the taller man's.

Derek had no idea if they were getting the choreography the way it was suppose to be but it looked sharp and coordinated with the exception of a couple of times were he had to hold on to Isaac a little tighter not to fall on his butt.

It was impressive how Isaac managed to hold Stiles up like that, the boy was slim and tall and it didn't look like he was particularly strong but he had no problem with Stiles, who -even though was skinny- had also long limbs that could get in the way and added weight.

How much did they have to practice this to get it right? Probably a hundred times or more.

Stiles' face went back to touch Isaac's keeping a very serious expression that would probably haunt Derek's dreams for days now, that and how he kept thinking how easy it would be for him to lift and hold Stiles up.

There was a particular heart-stopping moment in which Derek thought Isaac was going to screw up and make Stiles break his neck and die (and Derek didn't appreciate that very much, he had to talk to Stiles first, kiss him if he was lucky, ask him out if he was _incredibly_ lucky) when the younger stepped back and forth once and with one of Isaac's hand on his stomach and the other on one of his, did an actual back flip as the taller shifted hands and went to support him to finish the move and fall to one knee just to quickly go back to the steps that were so characteristic of the tango.

Stiles was so light that Derek was pretty sure he could grabbed him with one hand and put him up against a wall if Stiles would let him, and felt a familiar tug on his lower stomach as he pictured that while still not missing a beat of the dance in front of him.

From time to time he heard the people watching cheering them up and screaming in excitement as Stiles was literally manhandled into Isaac's side upside down in rough, aggressive movements, doing spins and keeping their backs straight and foreheads incredibly close.

Derek noticed the lift they had practiced before was still difficult for them as Stiles tried to balance himself with Isaac's hand on his thigh and saying "Motherfucker," as he finally gave up and fell in Isaac's arms just to keep going with the choreography.

As the climax of the song approached and Derek's mind was filled with images of Stiles' leg wrapped around his own waist, the couple started to dance in a faster tempo and they even did that fast spin with Stiles' legs in the air that they had practiced before.

There was a step that required Stiles to spin over Isaac's shoulders more than once, Derek guessed, but only worked the first time, which made Isaac try to slap Stiles in the head, but for the sake of the choreography they kept dancing until the steps carried them to the final move, which consisted of Stiles falling to the floor with his legs split open.

Stiles on the floor doing a split that was not perfect but left Derek thinking how he was supposed to be anywhere near coherent when he spoke to him.

Awesome, so much for wanting to be finally clear about this whole thing.

Everyone was cheering and whistling and clapping enthusiastically at the two boys that were now standing, covered in sweat and breathing hard. People were saying their goodbyes and Derek stood there, almost wanting to go back to his car and come back some other time when his mind was clearer and possibly not filled with inappropriate thoughts of Stiles doing-

"Oh my god," he heard Stiles say and he looked up to see the other's eyes on him, a little surprised and possibly scared, he nervously said goodbye to everyone before Isaac told him, "We're going to keep practicing that one-handed lift, and we're going to get it right if it's the last thing I do in my life!"

"Chill, Isaac, we're gonna get it right." Stiles said, eyes shifting between the blond and him, Derek wasn't sure but a bubble of smugness popped when he noticed he was making Stiles nervous.

"See you next week!"

Stiles simply waved him goodbye and let Derek come close to him, looking around as they were left alone, "hi."

No Mr. Hale then, Stiles was probably thinking about the last time they were alone. "Hi."

"Uh... is there something wrong? Did something happen to Malia?" Stiles asked, looking worried now.

He remembered Laura's words. _"And above all, he really does like Malia. He wears the bracelet she made for him and she was so excited, it was disgustingly adorable."_

Derek looked at Stiles' wrist, the bracelet Malia had done for him was still there and it made him smile. "No, I-... need to talk to you."

Stiles nodded, agreeing with him on that, they had to talk about this whole thing, of course, like adults and not children fooling around.

"Uh, will you give me a minute? I'm sweaty, just- stay here for 2 seconds." Stiles didn't wait for an answer and rushed to the bathroom to freshen up.

Derek looked around him while Stiles was away, his things were on the floor close to the speakers and a well-worn red hoodie had been thrown in a chair too. The younger came back with his hair pushed back and wet, his face fresher but still a little flushed from practice, he had put another shirt on, probably used to changing clothes between classes, he had noticed before he was wearing tighter sweatpants, maybe more appropriate for an intense choreography like the one he just saw, to prevent himself from slipping or tripping over his own clothes.

"So-"

"I'm sorry for the other day." Derek said as soon as Stiles addressed him, the younger stopped talking and stood there looking at him until he recovered.

"It's fine... it's- it's okay, it's... okay," Stiles repeated, nervous and awkward, almost nothing left of the focused professional who had danced with Isaac moments ago.

"No, I-," Derek took a deep breath and got closer to Stiles, he had to be clear about this, he didn't want any misunderstandings, "look, the way it happened was wrong, I know, I shouldn't have caught you off guard like that and here."

Something in Stiles eyes told him that he wasn't really sorry about that happening, really. Or maybe he was projecting.

"No need to apologize, I understand, it was just nothin-"

"What? No." Derek said as soon as Stiles finished the word. He didn't want Stiles to think he regretted the whole thing, he was glad it happened, if only to give him the opportunity to come clean and just admit he liked Stiles out loud.

Wow, that was easy in his head.

"No, no, I meant how it happened, I don't want you to think I would do that, you know, just take you and-... and kiss you like... that..."

"Oh."

"It wasn't my intention to jump you uh the way I did, or kind of did."

"It wasn't." Stiles repeated looking confused, that made Derek take another step closer to him, his priority was to make sure Stiles didn't think he was just a game.

"I mean I'm not gonna do it like that again, push you and try to kiss you-"

Stiles left out a sigh that looked too much like desperation. "Too bad."

Derek looked at Stiles as he said that, the other had probably not thought about what he was saying because he looked as surprised as Derek was. Stiles' mouth was open trying to apologize or something but Derek could only get closer and closer... and so close he made Stiles walk back into the wall behind them, it made him remember what had happened before when he had almost kissed Stiles.

"Jesus..." Stiles breathed out, looking down and licking his lips as if he could help himself. Derek could relate to that.

"I just want to make sure you want me to do it." Derek said in a whisper, they were here in a room that was half glass and close to the door, someone could come in before Derek could do anything, "please tell me if you're okay with this."

"I-" Stiles sighed and closed his eyes, his hands were on Derek's chest, burning like there were no clothes between them, "what is this?"

"What?"

"What exactly is this, Derek?"

Oh, his name sounded so nice in Stiles' breathy voice, he just wanted to kiss him so bad. But no, Stiles wanted him to speak up and he was going to do it.

"I like you."

Stiles' brown eyes looked at him now, they were so close Derek could see sparks of a lighter color in them and his eyelashes were so long Derek wanted to kiss them over and over again.

"I like you too but-"

"I'm sorry I'm doing it again."

"Just... just do it, please," Stiles whispered as he got his face closer to Derek, impossibly closer.

"Yes," Derek smiled and finally put his lips on Stiles', just barely there to feel how soft they were but not enough to actually taste them. When he moved his hands to put them around Stiles, the other gasped making their lips meet again.

"Derek, I really _really_ like you," Stiles whispered into his lips, just like he had done days before when they had almost kissed.

They were so close now, just a press of the lips wasn't enough, Derek had to do it properly, had to taste and take and put his arms around the younger now that he knew Stiles liked him back for sure. He pressed his body against Stiles, one hand on the wall and the other on his waist, ready to kiss him...

"No, no, no, wait, Jesus, wait..." Stiles made him step back, "I can't, you're- I can't, I'm teaching you how to dance for your wedding, _fuck_..." he put his hands on his face, breathing hard and clearly upset about it.

Wait, did Stiles just say 'your wedding'. _What?_

"What did you just say?" Derek asked, way too confused to say anything else.

"I'm your daughter's teacher, I- I fucking agreed to teach you how to dance for your wedding, what kind of person does that and then decides he wants to kiss _the groom_? This is not okay!"

" _My_ wedding?" Derek shook his head trying to understand what Stiles was saying, where had Stiles heard he was getting married? Who had told him that?

"I met your girlfriend! She thanked me for whatever I'm doing, this is so wrong," Stiles was freaking out now, almost laughing at the cruelty of his own words, and Derek stood there not understanding anything, "I'm sorry, I can't do this, this is not who I am, I can't do this to Malia- or... or her."

"Stiles, that's not-"

"I'm sorry, please don't do this." Stiles said, now breaking all contact with him and walking to get his stuff from the floor, Derek wanted to explain, he wanted to say he was wrong, that he had heard it all wrong and Laura, oh God, Laura was going to laugh so hard at him for letting this be the misunderstanding of the year.

He couldn't let Stiles keep thinking he was a lying cheating bastard, he just couldn't. In a moment of panic he quickly blocked the way for Stiles, who crashed against him and looked at him like he really wanted to get the hell out of there.

"I'm asking you, please." Stiles said, Derek could feel his nervousness.

"Let me understand this first, did you say groom? Me? The groom of what?" that was probably just a mess of words but he was so anxious to get everything right that he couldn't wait.

"Your- your wedding, that's... that's why you asked me to teach you how to dance the Waltz, for your wedding."

Derek was sure his mouth was hanging in a very unattractive way but he really didn't get where Stiles got-

Oh shit, he thought he was learning Waltz for his own wedding. Oh shit.

He couldn't really remember specifically but they had probably never made clear that Derek wasn't the one getting married? Stiles had assumed he was marrying someone?

That was why Stiles was so nervous about their mutual attraction, he thought he was indulging, serving as a lover for Derek.

Derek suddenly felt like laughing and that was what he did. It didn't help of course, Stiles now was looking at him like he had said something incredibly offensive.

"What the fu-"

"I'm sorry! I- I'm sorry, I'm just- oh my god, Stiles, I'm not getting married! I'm-" he started laughing again, feeling between nervous and happy because that was the only reason Stiles was holding back. He was free to kiss the younger now, right?!

"You're learning how to Waltz." Stiles was still looking at him like he had grown a third eye in the middle of his forehead, "But Lydia and I saw her, I met her, I actually met-"

"Laura, you met my sister, Laura is my older sister." Derek said a million times in his head, at least five times to Stiles, looking right in his eyes so Stiles wouldn't think he was lying. Hell, he would bring Laura herself to make it clear if he needed confirmation.

"What?" Stiles' voice was so weak and he was getting so red Derek thought the other might faint.

"I'm not the one getting married, I've never been engaged and I've been single for the last two years. And I like you, I like you a lot." Okay, that might have not be as smooth as he would have wanted but there it was, at least he had said it. Out loud. To Stiles' face. He knew that he was still smiling, too excited to clear everything up and finally getting to kiss Stiles.

"No, that can't be-" Stiles stopped talking after those few words, his eyes got lost on some point over Derek's shoulder like he was putting things together, maybe some of the very ridiculous coincidences that had happened in the last weeks.

Derek let himself laugh again at the ridiculousness of the whole situation -this was worse than a rom-com or something- and that was when Stiles turned his eyes towards his again, blushing furiously, licking his lips and closing them for half a second before he said the next words that made Derek stop in his tracks.

"Can you let me go, please?"

Derek went cold then, only reacted to step away from the door and letting Stiles go, not understanding what had happened. They had cleared things out, right? Derek wasn't getting married, he was single, they were both single and adults and-

He turned around to go look for Stiles but the other was gone, Andy, the girl on the front desk was looking at him suspiciously, like he had done something wrong.

Maybe he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW, IT'S BEEN 84 YEARS.
> 
> I'm so sorry guys, it's just that I haven't had much time to write, plus I was in kind of a writer's block, ugh. But I fixed it, yay~!  
> Tell me what you think! I know I would've reacted the same way as Stiles, really, I'd be super embarrassed.   
> Thank you very much for waiting for an update, I know I'm a slow writer but I'm doing what I can, I promise.  
> You're all wonderful<3
> 
> PS: Regarding last chapter's problem with the "aunt", I decided to leave it like that, many of you told me that you understood the situation, it's just very difficult to understand Stiles' place because we know Laura is Derek's sister. Thank you again for taking the time to leave a comment and tell me what you thought :D


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't you love it when there's ~resolution~???
> 
> I'm way too nervous to write a proper summary, jesus.

"Who the hell told him I'm getting married?!" Derek asked with his hands on each side of his face, exasperated and confused about everything.

"What are you talking about?" Cora asked squinting her eyes, Kira was looking at him with wide open eyes.

"I'm going to kill whoever told him I'm getting married... _to Laura_." Derek let his forehead hit the counter ask Cora choked on water and Kira whispered "what?".

"Why are you asking _us_?" Cora asked when she recovered.

"Someone must have said that for him to assume that I'm-"

"I mean you're taking private lessons to learn a dance that's traditionally danced at weddings." Kira said caressing Cora's back while her girlfriend rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Did you tell him you're taking those lessons to dance with your sister who's not your bride? Also, gross." Cora added.

"I don't remember," Derek had been trying to recall their conversations and if he ever told Stiles he wasn't the one getting married ever since their conversation earlier. Stiles had assumed he was engaged to a woman named Laura while not only kind of flirting but also almost kissing him. That was why Stiles was so nervous about it, he thought he was getting in between Derek and his supposed bride.

It made Stiles all the more endearing, really, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Stiles thought Derek was a cheating asshole who would fuck his Waltz teacher if he gave him a chance.

Which... okay, yes, but he wasn't cheating on anyone, he wasn't getting married, Laura was his sister and he wasn't even in a relationship!

Derek sighed and massaged his temples, "I have a headache."

Cora snorted. "It's kinda funny, though."

"For you, it might be." Derek ignored Cora smiling and nodding and looked at Kira, who still looked very confused, "I _laughed_ , now he probably thinks I'm making fun of him. You have to help me."

"Me? Why me?"

"You know Stiles, tell him I'm not actually an idiot."

"I thought he was like smart, because Laura looks exactly like you without a beard, he should have noticed right away."

"He is smart, Cora, it must have been a misunderstanding." Kira said rising an eyebrow.

"Whatever, you should give Derek his address so he can go and explain our family to him, you can take a whiteboard. Also make a sign that says 'DEREK IS NOT AN IDIOT, WE ALL PROMISE'."

"I'm not gonna go to his place, I'll just... wait until he's free and he wants to talk to me and... not run away."

"That's sad, bro."

"You'd think someone with that face would have an easier and less awkward love life." Kira joked and Cora blinked at her, "your brother is hot, I've told you."

Derek put his face on his hands trying to figure out something but the only thing he could think about was Laura telling him how her encounter with Stiles had been, how had he reacted? Laura had said he had been weird but how? She had also said that Lydia was-

Of course.

"I gotta go," he picked his stuff up and went out of the door.

"Remember you told Mom she could spend time with Malia tonight!" Cora yelled at him before he got out through the door without waiting for an answer from Kira or Cora, he had to pick Malia first and then take her to his mother.

When he got to Malia's school, Derek saw his daughter talking with another boy he recognized from Stiles' class, the boy who gave Stiles a ring pop, whatever his name was. Now this boy was talking to his daughter, _making her laugh_ and -to Derek's mild panic- touching her shoulder to tell her that her backpack was super cool.

Malia was supposed to be mad at him for giving Stiles a present first, what was-

"Malia," he said as he approached both kids, his voice made the boy jump in surprise, but as soon as he recovered he smiled and waved at him politely, "hi, you're in Malia's dance class," he said awkwardly, he wasn't very good with other people's kids, Derek had always been scared of doing something wrong and make them cry, it was a miracle his daughter had adapted to his awkwardness.

"Yes, Mr. Hale, I'm Kyle," they boy waved again, his big eyes filled with excitement.

"Hi, Kyle, thanks for keeping Malia company," he stretched his hand towards Malia and she quietly went to his side, not picking his hand -huh?-, "do you need us to wait until your mom gets here?"

"I'm okay, thank you, Miss Reed is waiting with me," he pointed at their teacher, who smiled at Derek and blushed a little, fixing her hair in the process.

"Okay, so, take care," Derek put his hand on Malia's shoulder and lead her to the car, the little girl said a friendly "good bye, Kyle!" and smiled big at the boy.

Derek didn't even know this kid went to Malia's school, if he had to be honest, and he knew almost all the kids in her class, maybe he was from another group?

"How was school?" -Derek asked when he had made sure Malia had properly fastened the seat belt.

"Good, Daddy! Kyle and I practiced the new dance on our break and Jean and Paul and Sue and Matt clapped!"

"That's nice, will you show me at home?"

"Yep. Daddy, your glasses are on the floor," he looked on the mirror and saw Malia pointing at the floor.

"It's okay, I'll pick them up when we get home, don't take your seatbelt off. Is uh... Kyle in your class?"

"Yes! He's new but I know him from  Stiles' class so he's my friend." Derek listened to his daughter speak about her new friends, smiling and gesturing with her hands how they had done the dance. She was having so much fun in Stiles' class that he didn't want to ruin it but... but he couldn't just stop thinking about him, he had to do something, explain to him it was just a mistake and that Derek only wanted to kiss him and make him feel comfortable.

 

~**~

*

Stiles was a little nervous again, he couldn't lie. This wasn't the first time they performed in front of a few hundred people and the first two songs weren't a problem, it was the Tango that always made him anxious, he didn't want to be dropped by Isaac and break his neck for a start, but it also worried him that some people didn't like it just because it was two guys. Most of the time, when the group made same-sex dances the audience ended up cheering and applauding excitedly but the Tango was different for some reason.

Then there was the other issue, of course. He hadn't been sleeping well these last few days due to the insisting feeling of humiliation that left him with an uneasy feeling, shame and general sadness. How could he be such a freaking idiot? It wasn't hard, he only had to ask 'oh, so your bride, right, Laura?' and then Derek would have told him 'nah, she's my sister, I'm learning this for her wedding, she's getting married,' and it wouldn't have been a big deal. But no, he had to go and assume shit about this guy who was perfect in every way but had ultimately laughed at him for being a moron.

Every night he went to bed imagining Derek and his sisters and everyone else laugh at him and his stupidity and wanted to puke. He had actually cried the first day out of embarrassment, which was a first, really, he hadn't cried because of shame since he was 10 or something, he had never cried because of another person either, and he wasn't going to start now. Derek was nice and awesome but he was not going to get Stiles' tears so easily.

He shook his head trying to focus again, he stretched his arms and legs, fixing his eyes in a small point on the wall, going through the choreography for the bazillionth time that day.

When it was time for them to step in front of the people, he breathed to calm himself and winked at Isaac to quietly threaten him if he dared to drop him. As they went to their positions, he saw people looking curiously at them, waiting for the music to finally start.

First Lydia had danced with Riley, a girl who had created a new choreography for Sia's Elastic Heart, and had specifically asked Lydia to dance with her since she had the best technique. Kira had followed with an all-girls ensemble dancing to Pussycat Dolls (it was fun to see sweet smiling Kira dancing so fiercely like that, but Stiles had avoided talking to her like the plague, he didn't want to know if she knew anything about the situation with Derek).

Now it was Stiles' and Isaac's turn, he took a moment to check to his side to see if Lydia was there and she smiled at him nervously while she kept giving weird looks to the audience as if she was waiting for someone (which was strange because Jackson was right there sitting like the dutiful boyfriend Lydia deserved.

As the choreography started he went to Isaac's arms as they had practiced a hundred times (and more), delivering it almost perfectly as the audience gasped in awe as the first spin in Isaac's arms came through safely and quick, as if they were real professionals with years of training.

Isaac murmured something in his ear when Stiles wrapped his legs around him but he didn't really listened, Stiles just wanted to get everything right and not die trying.

Or fall on his ass in front of two hundred people.

When it was over, everyone stood up and clapped, he even heard people whistling and cheering at them, a look at the crowd told him some had been recording and Isaac was smiling brightly at everyone -which drew even more cheers and claps, really, especially from girls-. As the host said their names again, they took a bow and invited all the others to do the same to finally say goodbye. He was so grateful for this crowd, really, they had been the best in a long time. Not a single boo or disgusted look.

Stiles went backstage with everyone else and Lydia on his hand, and they all hugged to congratulate each other for such good job.

"We're going to Alice's to celebrate!" Kira said enthusiastically, skipping with the girls in her group.

"Sure! Let's change and we're done." Isaac said, gesturing everyone to go to the dressing rooms.

Lydia caught his arm before Stiles could follow the others, "I put your thing on room 2, sorry, it was too crowded, can you get my stuff? I already changed and Jackson's waiting, I'll meet you when you're done."

"Sure, babe." Stiles said as he kissed her forehead and walked towards room 2.

When he entered there was nobody there except his stuff, Lydia's and Derek standing with his hands in his pockets, looking worried and impatient.

Oh... Lydia, for fuck's sake.

He actually took the doorknob to get the hell out of there before Derek could start laughing again, but the other walked to him first, "please, let me- I need to explain."

"How did you get Lydia to help you? She doesn't help people besides Allison and me."

"I begged, I'm not ashamed to admit it."

Stiles nodded in acceptance but looked around awkwardly, he didn't want to be there and relive everything, "I have to change, they're waiting for me."

"I didn't mean to laugh, it was a stupid reaction, I'm sorry, I'm- I'm really sorry..." Derek said. He had clearly been in some kind of professional meeting because he was wearing nice shoes and dress pants and shirt, he had probably taken off a tie, Stiles wanted to imagine the whole set and go back to dreaming about Derek when he was still unapproachable Mr. Hale.

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't your fault and... please don't remind me of that moment again." He looked to a variety of other places instead of Derek.

 "No, I need to say it out loud, I need to tell you that I wasn't laughing at you, it was the whole situation..."

"I get it! I get it was ridiculous of me to think you were getting married, I just want to let it go, please."

"I like you." Derek said with a firm voice, looking right at him, walking a few steps into Stiles' area, which made him crave for the touch he had so shortly felt back at the Academy, when Derek tried to kiss him.

If he had kept his mouth shut nothing wrong would have happened, maybe that was yet another sign for him to close his mouth for once.

"I like you... a lot, I've liked you for an embarrassingly long time and I don't know what to do, I don't know how to act on it, I don't-" Derek sighed, not used to pouring his feelings to other people like that, Stiles saw his discomfort and wanted to hug him but he stood in his place in silence, "what do I do? Tell me what to do."

Stiles watched Derek rub his face with both his hands, clearly anxious to get an answer from him. It was rather flattering, knowing that he was responsible for that... not that he particularly liked making anyone anxious, but at least he wasn't the only one feeling nervous and weird about the whole situation.

"What do you want, Derek?" he asked after a couple of seconds.

"I want to kiss you."

"Then..." he shrugged and automatically licked his lips, as if his body was getting ready.

Of course Derek didn't really wait for a full sentence, he more or less rushed to push Stiles into the nearest wall, both hands that had previously been shaking took his face to guide it -as if Stiles needed any guiding- and finally kissed him. He kissed Stiles as if it was the only opportunity he was going to have in his life.

Stiles' own hands were now holding Derek's wrists as if not wanting them to let go while they kissed so intensely that Stiles felt like moaning right there in the empty dressing room with dozens of people walking outside.

Derek's stubble tickled him and burned a little but then he nibbled at his lower lip and Stiles sighed into the other's mouth, which made Derek plaster himself against Stiles, who couldn't be any more glued to the wall. He made Derek stop touching his face by taking his wrists and leading them to his waist in a direct attempt to get touched.

When Derek felt Stiles removing his hands though, he stopped kissing the younger and looked at him from mere inches away, his eyes were clear and on fire and it made Stiles tingle all over like a school boy in love.

"Promise you won't tell anyone," Stiles whispered with warm and swollen lips into Derek's mouth, who was hungrily staring at his own.

"I promise," Derek agreed hoarsely, landing a few small kisses on Stiles' mouth and chin, that made Stiles smile, "what?"

"You're so cute," Stiles said, kissing Derek twice while the other caressed his waist and back as if he had done it for years.

"I have never in my life been called 'cute'."

"There's a first time for everything. I have never been ravished in a dressing room... wait... uh no, yeah, I haven't."

"Funny." Derek snorted, his hands giving Stiles a hard time to focus. "You don't have to be embarrassed about what happened, it was an honest misunderstanding."

"It still makes me feel stupid, and I don't like feeling stupid, and I don't think I can handle your sisters laughing about it in my face."

"I won't tell them... they would blame me anyway." Derek reassured him by giving him the sweetest kiss in the forehead, Stiles felt a little bit more comfortable to put his hands on Derek's chest -well-toned, warm, probably lickable chest-. It made him smile how naturally they fit with each other.

"Blame you?"

"For not doing this sooner."

"I remember a particular moment that could have ended like this."

"I remember two, actually."

"Which would've been highly inappropriate." Stiles rose an eyebrow at Derek. "It's really incredible how relaxed I feel now that you finally kissed me, especially having you completely glued to me." At that Derek quickly took a step backwards and Stiles whined. He actually whined.

"Sorry."

"No, I like it, it was nice, I want you to do it again," he took one of Derek's hands to pull him closer, to which the other followed, "do it again, please."

Derek actually smiled wide before he kissed him again, slowly, silently and privately, putting a hand on his cheek and the other one around his waist. Now Stiles put his arms around Derek's neck, feeling the tingle of humiliation leave his body as they kept kissing for a minute before he remembered he was expected outside.

"Don't you feel like there should be something going horribly wrong?" Stiles asked in between kisses, his skin was going to be a little sore but it was worth it, it was totally worth it.

"Are you saying we didn't get enough weirdness?"

"Nope, not at all, let's not jinx it," Stiles shook his head and pulled Derek in for another kiss. Oh, right, he was supposed to be heading to Alice's bar with the others. "Oh, shit, I have to g-" he was interrupted by a knock on the door and Lydia's voice muffled by the noise outside.

"Stiles, we're going, are you coming or not? Tell dance dad there you're busy."

"How did she-"

"Twins bond." Stiles answered before Derek formed the question. "I'll be ready in ten minutes, Lyds!"

"Right, I'm counting, I'm not getting inside this room until you're both outside."

Then there was silence again and Derek sighed, "you have to go?"

"Yes, wanna help me change?" he smirked and winked at a suddenly flustered Derek, who took two steps back now, "it was a joke."

"Yeah, sure, I- sure," Derek cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. How cute, "I'll go."

"Okay." Stiles tried not to laugh at Derek's awkwardness. It was refreshing not to be the awkward side of a conversation for once.

"Okay," Derek kept looking at him for a moment, like he expected Stiles to start undressing in front of him. "Uh, I'll- I'll go-"

"Derek, did you tell anyone you were coming here?" Stiles asked before Derek ran outside.

"No. I don't want anyone casually telling Laura about it, she would make a big fuss about it."

"I was thinking more about someone telling Malia." Stiles said nervously. Malia was a big factor to take into consideration, if someone just went and told her about Derek and him he wasn't so sure she would react too well.

"Oh," Derek shook his head, "don't worry, I'm not telling her yet. Or anyone really, not yet. Is that okay with you?" he asked a bit unsure, worried that Stiles would get offended.

"Yes, absolutely, let's not tell anyone yet, I'll tell Lydia." He agreed, it was better that way, if anyone else besides Lydia knew, they could accidentally tell Malia and that would be a disaster, and besides, they hadn't completely figured what they were going to do.

"I want another kiss before I go." Derek said nodding at Stiles' words.

Stiles smiled big and approached to give him one last kiss, or a second to last kiss, because after that one Derek insisted on another.

He felt his heart was going to explode. He was probably smiling like an idiot as Derek awkwardly waved at him and opened the door to leave, giving him a last glance before disappearing to be replaced by Lydia and her judgmental stare and pursed lips.

"You look disheveled." She crossed her arms and waited for an explanation as if she was entitled to one.

And Stiles had to admit, she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay uh... so... so WHAT DO YOU THINK?  
> Did you like it? Did you hate it? TELL ME PLEASE
> 
> I'm very sorry for the super long wait, I'm trying to catch up but I've had a lot to do and the muse didn't always want to cooperate, as you may know.
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting, guys!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Numbers are given, invitations are made.

If he was given the chance, Stiles would totally start jumping up and down with the kids out of excitement. He was nervous and acting like a little boy but he could not help it, the anticipation of seeing Derek again was exciting and he made the kids work in pairs so he had more time to think of all the possible scenarios.

He hadn't seen Derek when Malia arrived, Cora had been the one to take her, which meant a short questioning and worried looks from Malia after her aunt asked if he felt better.

"Are you sick, Stiles?"

"No, sweetie, I'm not sick, Cora is being funny."

Cora had just smiled reassuringly at Malia and left after giving Stiles a suspicious look. He wasn't sure they were going to be able to keep it a complete secret for a long time.

If he got a couple of weeks with Derek in the privacy of four walls he was going to be okay with it, as long as it didn't upset Malia he was going to go for it, Hale family be damned.

He hadn't told Scott or Allison, Lydia was the only one who knew and that was only because she had helped Derek sneak into the dressing room and had obviously sensed their smiles afterwards.

When all the kids were officially done with the activity and the parents started to arrive to get them, Stiles felt his heart rush again. As usual, Malia and Kyle were playing together while waiting for their parents who were always last.

Surprisingly, both Derek and Mrs. Parrish got there at the same time and Stiles couldn't help but stare at Derek, who was wearing a black suit, with a blue tie and everything this time. _Oh man_.

Vanessa quickly said hi to them and called her son to get going, Derek greeted him and Malia and waited for the little girl to get her bag.

"Daddy, I'm gonna say bye bye to Kyle first!" Malia said cheerfully.

"Sure." Derek got a little closer to Stiles' side, not too close but enough to speak quietly, he wasn't getting his eyes off Malia, though, and according to Stiles furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Malia and Kyle hug enthusiastically.

Stiles had to roll his eyes at that.

"They are good friends." Stiles said as Vanessa greeted Malia and asked how they were both doing in school.

"Yeah, I can see that." Derek sighed in acceptance.

"Calm down, she's only six, what are you going to do when she's fifteen?" Stiles thought it was endearing, Malia had always been very shy so Derek was probably not used to her having more than a couple of friends, or being so friendly at all.

"I... here, this is for you." He said while giving Stiles a piece of paper as someone who was passing the answers in a very important test.

When Stiles looked at the piece of paper he realized it was a business card with a number scribbled on it in black ink, it had Derek's name and his office number printed so naturally the one handwritten was Derek's mobile phone.

Oh wow, he had scored Derek's number doing absolutely nothing.

Okay, so usually this happened before anything else with other people, but this was going to be a weird relationship from start to finish. Stiles secretly hoped there was a relationship there.

Malia came running to Derek and grabbed his leg as usual after Vanessa and Kyle left, "Daddy! It's going to be Kyle's birthday party next week and he invite me! Can we go? Debbie's gonna go too!"

"Sure, M, Mrs. Parrish already told me when we were walking here."

"Yay! Stiles, are you coming?"

"Totally. I'll be there with my best suit," he winked at her to make her laugh, she looked very excited, "see you on Saturday?" he asked Derek, they were supposed to continue the Waltz lessons if that was the professional thing to do.

"Bye, Stiles!" Malia quickly hugged him and took Derek's hand to leave. Stiles gave Derek a secret smile, his fingers actually itched to touch the other.

The wait until Saturday was going to suck.

 

~**~

Stiles S.: _"You look very nice in a suit."_

Mr. Hale: _"Thanks."_

Stiles S.: _"You look nice in anything, really."_

Mr. Hale: _"Thanks again. You look nice dancing."_

Stiles S.: _"Awww :)"_

"You'd look nicer dancing with me-"

Derek deleted that and rewrote "I want to see you again" and then rewrote it again.

Mr. Hale: _"Do you always dance with Isaac?"_

Stiles S.: _"Mostly, yes. He's the tallest, he can hold me up without breaking my neck. Why? Are you jealous ;)?"_

Mr. Hale: _"No."_

Stiles S.: _"I believe you :)"_

Derek furrowed his eyebrows, thinking he could absolutely hold Stiles up with no problem at all, he wasn't taller than Stiles, they were the same height, really, but he could carry Stiles, he could-

Images were coming to his head, he better stopped thinking about the possibilities.

Mr. Hale.: _"My daughter is very excited about the boy's birthday party."_

Stiles S.: _"His name is Kyle and he's gonna be 7 in a few days, chill, Derek."_

Mr. Hale.: _"I'm not used to this, what do fathers do at children's birthday parties?"_

Stiles S.: _"You eat cake and stand there awkwardly chatting with other parents about how super smart your kids are? Idk I'm not an expert, you're supposed to be the expert."_

Derek wasn't an expert, he wasn't good at talking to other parents about kids. Mostly they behaved weirdly around him when they knew he was young and a single father. One would think in these times people would get used to it, but there was always someone who looked at Malia like she had been abandoned or as if Derek was probably doing a horrible job at being a dad.

He was still staring at his phone thinking about other birthday parties he had been to with Malia when the device started to buzz. It was Stiles calling, he answered after clearing his throat and sitting in a better position.

"Hi, can you talk?" Stiles asked when Derek answered the phone.

"Yeah, she's sleeping."

"Are you still freaking out?"

"I'm- let's say I'm nervous. Parents are weird."

"You're a parent."

"Exactly." Derek answered, which made Stiles laugh. Derek smiled at the sound of it.

"If it helps, I can stand by your side and make small talk with the other parents, I'm good at that."

Now he imagined Stiles standing by his side and easily talking to other people while Derek looked at him as if he was sparkling.

"Only if you want, of course, I know we said-"

"No, no, no, that would be great, thanks." Derek quickly said before Stiles started thinking he didn't want him near when it was actually the opposite, "I never know what to say when they ask me stuff."

"How do you do it at work?"

"I'm an architect, I introduce my own projects. I know about those because I made them."

"Malia is your daughter, you're raising her. I bet you know much more about her than any of your projects."

Derek thought about it for a minute, that was true, of course. Malia was his daughter and he had been with her since the first time she cried when she was born and had never been apart for longer than 4 -horrible- days. He knew everything about her and he was doing the best he could. That had to matter, right?

"Thank you." He told Stiles, there was something about Stiles that made him see things much clearer now.

"You're welcome. Don't be nervous, she's doing great, her little friend Debbie is going to be there too and she didn't get nervous when Kyle invited her. Malia is going to be fine. You, I'm not sure."

"I can always start talking about buildings." That made Stiles laugh again and all Derek wanted in that moment was to kiss him again.

"I get what you're going through, though, from a different perspective, but I get it."

Derek remembered the time Malia told him Stiles' mother had died, just like hers, of course he had to be somehow familiar with his situation.

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything, don't say that," Stiles sighed and kept talking in a soft relaxed voice, "I got to know my mom and I remember her, I'm grateful for that. My dad had a horrible time trying to raise me and people didn't feel comfortable around us, they thought that whatever they said was going to hurt us so they just didn't get close unless it was related to my dad's job. He never really wanted to take me to play dates, or birthday parties or anything like that, but he did it because that's how my dad rolls. Then Scott became my friend and best friend and Melissa started talking to my dad and he started looking for excuses to go to the hospital and now they're married and I'm sort of a normal person. Sometimes."

Derek snorted at that but understood what Stiles had wanted to say, "Thank you. For this and everything else."

"Huh?"

"It's thanks to you and your classes that she's made new friends and she looks more relaxed and happy, a few months ago I could never guess she would have wanted to go to a friend's birthday party." Derek remembered those times she had shyly shaken her head and said "sorry" to the kids who invited her to their houses, now he had not one but 2 good friends and she had excitedly accepted the invitation without much thought.

"I get lots of kids with Malia's problem, some of them learn to deal with it, sometimes it's something more serious than just shyness. I'm glad she's doing so great. You're going to be good too."

Derek could picture Stiles winking at him, it was so easy talking to him that Derek could not believe how long it took him to just tell him how he felt, maybe if he had done it sooner they wouldn't be talking over the phone, maybe Stiles would be there with him, or in the kitchen eating something nice.

"Do you want to eat something with me on Tuesday?" he asked out of the blue.

"I thought we were-"

"No, I know. Malia spends time with my mom on Tuesdays and she usually stays the night, we could... we could go for something, if you want." It could work if his mother didn't ask questions about what he was going to do, he had never been able to lie to her or even hide something from her, when he found out he was going to be a father she had been the first to ask what was wrong and why he looked so scared.

"I do. I want to, only if you let me feed you. Going out sounds like we're gonna be seen by someone and that someone will tell another someone who won't leave us alone." Of course, Derek thought again, even if they went to the furthest place there was still a risk of being seen by someone who could start talking and he didn't want his family to know just yet. Maybe he was being selfish but he wanted to enjoy Stiles and their privacy a little bit longer, they had just started seeing each other.

"You cook?"

"Do I look like someone who doesn't know how to feed himself?"

"A little bit."

"I know how to cook, Derek, I'm not the best and my knowledge is limited, but I know how to cook some stuff."

"I'll accept the offer, then."

"I'll text you my address..." Derek heard Stiles sigh, "are you really coming on Saturday?"

"Yes, you don't want me to come? I'll ask for a refund." Derek sat on the bed to take his shoes off, his eyes felt heavy and

"Of course I want you to come, in fact..."

"What?"

"No, nothing, forget it." Stiles sounded a little bit nervous.

"What were you going to say?"

"Nothing! I'm going to bed, see you on Saturday, bye!"

"... bye." Derek said back, smiling like an idiot at Stiles' nervous voice.

As soon as he hung up he relaxed into the bed, still smiling five minutes later and replaying the sound of Stiles' laughter in his head.

 

~**~

"You're smiling like an idiot."

"Thank you, bro, I appreciate it."

"But you are, what happened? Did you meet anybody?" Scott asked with raised eyebrows, immediately curious.

"No." Stiles snorted, he didn't like hiding stuff from Scott but he couldn't keep a secret to save his life, so he better kept it for himself for now.

"Stiles, a few days ago you were sulking because of what happened with Mr. Hale, now you're smiling for no good reason, come on."

"I might have had great sex, did you think about that? Stiles said, and Scott laughed and high-fived him.

He had been smiling like an idiot, though, he should be more careful but he couldn't help it. Stiles thought about the long conversation Derek and he had had and a smile appeared on his face automatically.

It was Saturday afternoon already and he was having a quick lunch with Scott in the gym's cafeteria. Allison was out shopping with Lydia and Scott's client had cancelled so they had time to grab a sandwich before Stiles had to go up to meet Derek. Scott knew that and avoided talking about "Mr. Hale" with him scared that he would make Stiles feel bad again. Scott was the best brother he could ask for.

"Be careful, Stiles, I don't want to see you pouting 24/7 again, okay? I might punch someone this time."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're the most non-violent person I've ever met. And drop the big brother act, you're too cute for that."

"I'm both cute and deadly."

"Sure, bro." Stiles finished his sandwich and kissed his brother in the forehead to go to his locker to change his shirt and brush his teeth.

When he was done, he went up to his Room and put his ipod in place to wait for Derek. He got distracted by his phone, Lydia had sent her a snapchat of her with Jackson and Allison having a late lunch at a nice place and he had replied with a picture of him in front of the mirror doing a stupid face.

"Do I get a copy of that?" obviously that was when Derek decided to come in, smiling at his ridiculous face.

Stiles turned around and cleared his throat, absolutely sure he was blushing. "A copy? How old are you, 70?"

Derek smiled bigger and got closer, taking short peeks at the door and the big window, when he stood in front of Stiles he managed to steal a kiss from him before Stiles could actually react.

"Sorry, couldn't wait."

"Please, you're not sorry." Stiles teased.

"You're right."

Derek took his wallet and other belongings to the usual chair and got close to Stiles, took his hand and put on of his on the other's waist, it was definitely different now, it felt even better, he could start giggling like an idiot if it wasn't embarrassing. Stiles was raising an eyebrow and smirking as if he knew what Derek was thinking.

"At least you remember the position." Stiles put his hands in place and put play with the remote.

"I have an excellent memory."

When the music started Derek started to move just like Stiles had taught him all those times. It felt like years ago now that they were discovering this new thing between them.

Stiles had to correct Derek's hands a few times and he kept teasing him about being eager. They both sobered up when the class in the next room came out and some people walked towards the stairs or elevator.

When everyone had cleared out the track started again and Stiles asked Derek to try the spin very slowly while they did the box step.

"Don't grab my hand, just hold it up and let me turn around... just like that, great." Stiles did it a couple of times before Derek got the hang of it and managed to do it correctly, the wedding was getting closer and he needed to do this well if he didn't want Laura to kill him.

"Have you practiced with her?"

"Huh?"

"Laura. Have you practiced with her?"

"She hasn't had the time but we'll try tomorrow night. You're a much better teacher than her, by the way."

"Your money's being well spent... wait, that sounded like..."

"Like I'm _paying_ you."

"You _are_ paying me." Stiles smiled at Derek's frowned eyebrows, just like that his expression was different and Stiles knew Derek was thinking about something else. "What?"

"If you were there you would be able to see the result of all these classes."

"What?" Stiles said again, fully aware of what Derek was implying but scared to say it out loud.

"Uh... if- if you wanted, I mean if you... if you were free that day maybe you could... come... with... me?" Derek dragged the words like he was testing the waters with each one while he stood still in front of a very surprised Stiles.

"I thought you wanted to keep it a secret."

"No, yeah, I mean... yes, I didn't mean that as if I want to keep _you_ a secret, I just need time until I can tell Malia, it's not like I'm ashamed of being with you or anything."

"I know, don't worry," Stiles reassured Derek by smiling at him, "when is the wedding?"

"The 24th."

"Okay, a month... Do you... do you think that will be enough? Because if you plan on taking me you have to tell Malia, you can't tell her I'm coming to see you dance."

"I think that'll be enough time."

Stiles felt his heart skip a beat hearing Derek say that with determination. If he was planning on having Stiles as his plus one it meant he had to tell Malia in a few weeks tops, because if she reacted badly they would have to call it off, or if she needed time -as Stiles hoped it would be the case- they would have to let her think and process it for some days at least so it wasn't a big shock for her the day of the wedding.

"You can say no, it's okay, I know it seems a little rushed."

"No, no, I mean, it's- you caught me by surprise, that's all." If Stiles was being honest with himself he was scared as hell to meet Derek's entire family, especially after the whole misunderstanding that he was sure they all knew by now. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be teased by the Hales, if Laura and Cora were to be considered a free trial.

"Just think about it, okay? It's fine if you say no, I promise."

"Let me think and I'll tell you on Tuesday."

Derek gave him a little smile and nodded as Stiles took position again. When Stiles took his hands Derek did not stop to think and kissed him like he had done a moment ago, only this time the kiss was not short and Stiles welcomed it closing his eyes and whispering his name as Derek took Stiles' face between his hands. He started to take some steps forward until Stiles' back softly hit the wall, which didn't stop the kiss.

Derek could feel Stiles' hands on his chest, not sure if he wanted to push him off or pull him closer. His own were caressing the other's cheeks, feeling with his fingertips some of the moles on Stiles' warm skin.

"Derek..." Stiles whispered, letting puffs of breath tickle Derek's neck when he kissed his cheek.

"I know, I'm sorry," Derek's voice sounded deep and intimate, almost like he was debating with himself whether or not he should stop or not.

"One more." Stiles said, putting his hands around Derek's neck to pull him closer and kissing him deep and hard, which made Derek put his own hands on the other's waist.

"Shit..." Derek breathed out, literally pressing his lips together to stop himself from kissing Stiles.

"Okay, okay..." Stiles cleared his throat as he looked at the other, feeling his own lips tingling because of Derek's beard. His back was still pressed on the wall and Derek was still very close. "Let's put some space here, big guy."

"Yeah, sorry."

"Stop apologizing," he said smiling teasingly, "for the record I'm perfectly fine with you pushing me up against a wall but I don't own the key to that door." That made Derek blush a little and give him a raised eyebrow.

"I better go."

"Oh no..." Stiles pouted even though he knew perfectly well it was already time for them to finish.

"I'll see you on Tuesday."

"Sure," Stiles picked his ipod and phone from the floor while Derek did the same.

"Hey, don't worry." Derek touched his forearm before coming out of the Room, "when I decide to tell Malia I'll tell you."

"Just one question before, and please don't get mad."

"What?"

"Are you sure you want to tell her?" when Stiles asked that Derek got closer, looking everywhere outside in case someone was looking at them, luckily at that time of the day the Academy appeared to be empty.

"What are you worried about? She already likes you a lot."

"No, it's not that. It's just that... what if... what if it doesn't go anywhere?"

Derek didn't need Stiles to elaborate, he understood what the other was saying.

"We're just starting, do you want to end it already?" he teased, a little nervous.

"Don't say that," Stiles took one of his hands, "I mean what if it doesn't work? What do we tell her?"

"You'd still be her teacher." Derek answered, but reassured Stiles touching his cheek after he saw the younger biting the inside of his mouth, "how about we cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Yeah... sounds like I'm having second thoughts."

"I understand, you're starting to date a single father."

"I don't remember it being this difficult."

"What?" Derek raised both eyebrows in curiosity.

"Someday I will tell you." Stiles kissed Derek's cheek and lead the way to the elevator not waiting for an answer. Derek followed him looking like a puzzled puppy.

When they got to the ground floor and as they were saying good bye -with a lot of space between them, like normal people who were definitely not making out in a rather public place a few minutes ago- Stiles saw Scott walk towards them. His brother shook Derek's hand with a sweet ScottTM smile.

"Nice to see you, Mr. Hale."

"You too." Derek saw the tape on Scott's hand and asked, "you train here?"

"I work and train here, boxing and self-defense, I was teaching a new client how to kick a man your size in the balls." Scott said that with such a sweet smile Stiles thought for a second he could get away with passive-aggressively threatening Derek out of no-where.

"Scott-" Stiles was going to say something, but Derek snorted, almost like he hadn't heard Scott's real intention.

"I'm glad, I might send Malia to one of your classes." After saying that to Scott he looked at Stiles. "See you in a couple of days."

"Yeah, tell Malia I said hi."

"Bye, Scott." Derek waved at Scott as he went to the exit. Scott waved back with a bright smile.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What's going on between you two?" Scott asked, the damn telepath.

"Unresolved sexual tension, if you ask me." Scott laughed at that and patted his shoulder.

At least he wasn't lying to his brother with that answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it?S ACTUALLY BEEN 84 YEARS THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO SORRY OH MY GOD?
> 
> I'm so sorry, I- March was horrible I had a lot of work and could hardly write, I'm really really sorry!  
> I've already started writing the next chapter so I hope to have it up in a few weeks, thank you for putting up with my slow af fingers.  
> I'm planning some drabbles for this series, if you want to read them, also if you have any ideas I'll try to include them if my little partner in crime and I haven't thought of it yet lol  
> Someone asked for a first date in the comments? You're gonna get it soon ;D


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Netflix and Chill?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: The rating went slightly up, guys, check it up! (Also, awkward talk and feelings about sex... a little bit)

On Tuesday night Derek was on his way to leaving Malia with his mother when his phone lit up with a message from Stiles, it was the address. He knew the place so he wouldn't take more than ten minutes to get there, and Stiles finished the message with a 'see you in half an hour ;)', which gave him plenty of time to say hi.

"Kitty! You look amazing, who did that braid?" his mother said as she opened the door, Malia hugged her tight and immediately went inside screaming 'Kira did!'.

"She's obsessed with getting braids and I've seen thousands of YouTube tutorials but I'm helpless," he said as he entered and got a kiss on his forehead. "How's everything?"

"Going well, Laura stopped by earlier, she needed to check some guests. Do you want something to eat?"

"No, thanks, not hungry."

"What are you going to do?"

"I uh..." he had wanted to lie, really, but he wasn't sure it was going to work, his mother had a way of always knowing when one of her kids was lying, they had never been able to tell a successful lie, even his father.

"Derek?" Talia lead him to her office so Malia wouldn't hear.

"I have a date, don't tell Laura or Cora, please," when he said it, his mother's face looked surprised and interested.

"Who is it?"

"You don't know him."

"When did you meet him?"

"Two months ago?" was it two months only? It felt longer.

"Oh my god, Derek." There it was, the exact reaction he got from Laura when he admitted he liked Stiles.

"You won't tell Laura or Cora."

"Of course not, sweetie, you know me."

He knew, actually, Talia Hale was an expert at keeping secrets, she never told, she never even teased, Derek trusted her with this.

"It's just starting and we don't want Malia to find out from others."

"Do you have friends in common?"

"Not... really but we're being careful."

"Makes sense." Talia caressed his cheek and smiled at him. "I'm happy for you, honey. It's been a while."

"That's what is making me nervous."

"You'll be fine, just take it easy and have fun. Get some condoms and all that."

Derek looked at Talia unimpressed while she smiled in a way that reminded him too much of Cora. "I'll go say hi to Dad."

"Do we need to have the Talk?" she said before Derek got out of the room.

"I'm a father, mom."

"Exactly."

"He's a guy. Please let me go."

"You know The Talk is not only about babies, Derek."

" _Mom_."

Talia smiled big and went with him to the living room where his father was playing with Malia, he was letting her climb his shoulders and balance there. Derek would be worried if they weren't so used to it. Alexander had strong arms and he had been entertaining Malia that way for years since she had learned how to climb her relatives.

"Hi, Dad," he patted his father's shoulder and sat by his side.

"Hi, son, did you finally learn how to braid this monster's hair?"

"Avi, daddy doesn't know how to braid, Kira did it!" Malia was sitting on Alec's shoulder, playing with his dark hair now.

"Someday I will learn and then she will never want to get a braid again."

"Daddy, no!!" Malia giggled.

"I want to braid your hair, undo that one, I'm gonna dutch braid it." Alec wiggled his fingers, putting Malia on his lap and she held on the armrest of his wheelchair.

"What is a dutch braid?" Derek asked trying to recall the dozen youtube tutorials he had watched on Sunday morning. His father was an actual expert at braiding, he had somehow learned from a friend who could do any kind of braid with eyes closed and had a lot of practice with both Laura -who had been obsessed with braids in elementary school- and Cora -who hated getting her hair touched but stood still whenever her dad tried to style it-.

"Watch and learn."

"I gotta go, but record it and put it on youtube, you'll be famous."

"Let's rec- record it, Avi!!"

"Say bye, M." Derek kissed Malia's forehead and his father's.

"Bye, M!" Malia waved at him, "see you tomorrow, daddy!"

"See you tomorrow, Derek!" Alec also waved at him and Talia walked with him to the entrance.

"Be careful, Derek, we'll be here if you need anything."

Derek just smiled and said good bye, he walked to his car and drove to Stiles' place with 5 minutes to spare.

"Hey," Stiles smiled when Derek rang the doorbell and he opened. There was a nice smell of homemade food coming out of the apartment and Stiles was wearing a black shirt and jeans which made Derek smile big. "Come in."

Derek followed Stiles in, looking around to check the place. There was a nice library on the wall where a TV was also placed, the books were too many for the shelf so some of them were piled up next to the TV, and Derek could see that almost all of them had little pieces of paper tucked between the pages. In a narrow place between the library and the door to the bedroom there were dozens of pictures pinned with colorful pins and bits of yarn that someone put there to make it look happier probably. It was a nice touch, pictures of his family, his friends, concert tickets, notes with different handwritings... everything looked very Stiles.

"You like that? It sort of started when we took a group picture when Allison had her photography phase and we have put some others there."

"It's nice. The whole place is." Derek followed Stiles to the small kitchen where he had left the wooden spoon and towel.

"Thanks. I don't have much and it's a little messy, but I like it." He started moving around the pan and something in a pot, it smelled like pasta and something else Derek couldn't identify. "Sit over there, it'll be ready in a minute. Do you want something to drink? Wine? Beer? Your answer will determine how I see you for the rest of my life."

"Beer, then." Stiles gave him an open bottle and took one for himself. "Are you allowed to drink beer?"

"You're funny, I'm 21. Cheers."

Derek smiled at him, more relaxed than he thought he would be on a first date in Stiles' apartment.

"Do you need help?" he asked coming closer to where Stiles was standing.

"Take the dishes, they're in that top shelf."

After setting the table, Stiles made Derek sit by his side and stay there. The dish was pasta with mushrooms and bacon, it smelled incredible and looked delicious. "Is this why you asked me if I was picky or if I had any food allergy yesterday?"

"One can never be too careful. Once I almost killed a date."

"What?"

"I had a date with a boy who had peanuts allergy. I offered M&M's at the movies and he forgot he could actually die." Stiles shrugged as he sat next to Derek, which was new, whenever he ate with anyone they would always sit in front which was perfectly fine, but also made him feel like it was an interview or something.

"What kind of person forgets an allergy like that?

"I don't know, we were seventeen and I was offering M&M's with my mouth," Stiles answered and made Derek laugh, his hands bumped and Derek took the opportunity to caress the other's fingers. For some reason that silent touch made Stiles blush so he did it again. "Eat your food already, it's not poisoned, I promise."

Derek obeyed and tried the food. It was as delicious as it looked, the mushroom tasted amazing and the bacon made it all crunchy. "This is good."

"Thanks." Stiles smiled at him, probably relieved he liked what he had made.

Stiles could have ordered pizza and Derek would've liked it, honestly.

"How's Malia?"

"Playing with my dad, at this hour, probably."

"Your dad? I thought you said you were taking his place in Laura's wedding."

"I am."

"I don't get it, he won't be there for the wedding?" Stiles asked curious.

"Oh, no, he's in a wheelchair, he made Laura promise she would have me dance with her if he was the one who walked her down the aisle, he didn't want people to stare and pay more attention to him than to the bride."

"I'm sorry, I thought-"

"Don't be, he's been in it for twenty years." Derek really didn't feel like it was painful, they were all used to it by now, he had grown up seeing his father in therapy and finally getting used to the wheelchair, they had had difficult moments but they had learned how to live with it and how to make Alec feel supported instead of overly protected and sheltered.

"So he's going to walk her down the aisle and you're going to dance with her? Sounds nice."

"If Cora was any better than me at dancing she would be the one doing it, I swear."

"I cannot picture your sister dancing, even with a hundred lessons from Kira."

"It's because it's impossible." Derek took a drink of his beer and looked at Stiles, who was sitting by his side paying attention to what he was saying. They ate in silence for a few minutes, it was comfortable, not awkward at all like Derek would have imagined. It might be Stiles but he didn't feel the need to fill the silence with nonsense, it felt just right eating and asking each other random questions.

"What's your brother-in-law's name?" Stiles asked after a while.

"Alex, almost like my father's."

"What's your dad's name?"

"Alec, short for Alexander. It was confusing when Laura first started bringing him to the house. Malia kept calling him Alec because it's naturally easier for her."

"She calls your dad by his name?"

"No, she calls him Avi because my dad used to talk to her in Catalan when she was a toddler... my grandmother's tongue."

"Catalan? Do you speak it?"

"I used to, I've forgotten most of it, Cora kept practicing with Dad, she's fairly fluent."

"I get it, my Dad and I used to talk Polish with my grandparents but after they died it got really rusty."

"Polish? Impressive." He turned around to be face to face with the other.

"Don't think I'm fluent, I've forgotten most of it, knowing a second language is hard and not like riding a bike at all."

"I know, same here," he saw Stiles take a gulp of his beer after he asked his next question, "Your dad's Polish?"

"My mom and dad, actually, they bonded over it when he was in the Academy and she was finishing high school. He tells me it was very cute."

"My parents dated a few months until my mom got pregnant with Laura and they got married when she turned two. A big scandal on my mom's side."

"Wow, sounds exciting."

"History repeats itself." Derek pointed at himself. Stiles raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, partially. I wasn't- I never got married. I'm not a widower, I promise."

"Oh..."

"Malia was born when I was twenty and Paige -her mother- had just turned twenty-one, both of us were in college and had been dating for a year but never talked about getting married, even after we found out she was pregnant." He stopped for a second, remembering they had laughed about the possibility of getting married. Paige wanted to finish school first and Derek had respected that. They had been way too young to think about marriage and Derek was grateful they had decided against it even when Paige's friends had advised doing it.

"You don't have to talk about it now..." Stiles said, putting his right hand on Derek's arm.

"It's okay, it was some time ago. I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't make me feel anything. It does, but it's not painful anymore."

"Malia said you offered to show pictures and videos."

"I did, I still do, sometimes when she's sad but she doesn't want to... I don't think she's ready." Derek looked up right into Stiles' eyes, "do you have pictures of yours?" Stiles didn't answer immediately, he took him by the hand and led him to the collage of pictures to point at a group that were surrounded by red yarn.

"In this one she was my age, and in that one she was pregnant with me."

"You look a lot like her." And he did, Stiles had her nose and her eyes and the moles on the side of his face -as he could easily see in one of the pictures with a close up to her face-. In the older picture she was smiling, almost laughing with a man by her side who Derek supposed was Stiles' father, she looked visibly pregnant and the man by her side was smiling shyly, dressed in a police uniform with an arm around her. "That's your father?"

"Yeah. This is one of the few pictures I have of them together, most of them got lost. I made digital copies of everything, though."

"I don't see any of you as a child." Derek said looking at the others, he saw many pictures of Stiles and his friends, handwritten notes and tickets, but no other picture of him.

"I took them off before you came in. I might show them to you on a third date, maybe, if you promise not to laugh."

"Really?"

"No. My dad has those, Melissa and him keep Scott's and my pictures in a safe box. We haven't cracked it so we can burn them yet but we will."

"I'll hold you to that on the third date."

"I'll have to burn them before that, then. Trust me, it's embarrassing, you don't want to see them."

"I have seen you dance tango, I don't think there's something that'll make you less attractive to me," he said that before he had any chance to think if it was too much, and he felt a little dumb afterwards but then he looked at Stiles who was blinking like he couldn't believe Derek could say something like that.

"You think I'm attractive?"

"Are you serious?" Derek snorted but when he saw Stiles kept the surprised expression he decided to reassure him, he was feeling comfortable and confident, they were in a safe space where no one else could bother them. "I'd like to see you dance like that again."

"I could teach you." Stiles got closer to him, even in the dim light of the apartment he could see the other's cheeks turning darker.

"I remember the blond guy... Isaac, he could lift you up."

"The first few times I almost broke my nose, it wasn't easy, really." Derek was looking at him with a soft smile on his face, touching his hands and forearms, which made it very difficult for Stiles to focus. He put his hands up to reach Derek's neck and pull him closer to kiss him, he could taste beer and pasta, and Derek's hands were now ghosting over his waist in a way that made Stiles' skin tickle. "You know you can touch me if you want, right?"

"I- okay."

Stiles let a breath out in amusement and caressed Derek's stubble, "you're very cute."

"It's been a long time since I- well... you know."

"I don't care, do you?"

"A little..." Derek said, his lips touching Stiles' in the most delicious way, "it's making me a little self-conscious if I have to be honest."

"Relax." Stiles used his fingers to massage the other's shoulders, going up and down, stroking the hairs on his nape. Derek exhaled and Stiles kissed him again, teasingly. "You will tell me whenever you want me to stop doing something, right?"

"Right this moment, I don't want you to stop doing anything at all." Derek said, which made Stiles laugh.

Stiles pushed Derek into the sofa in front of them to make him sit down but when he was going to take a few steps back the other took his hand and made him sit on his lap. "Will you?" Stiles sat on Derek's lap like he belonged there, like he had been doing that for months or years.

"It should be me saying that." For a moment there Derek thought it maybe should be the other way around since Stiles was younger than him.

"Shut up and answer my question."

"I can't do both." Derek's hands were now firmly on Stiles' waist in place while the younger's knees were holding his body up over Derek's not really touching him.

"Smartass."

Derek chuckled and with a single move he stood up and took Stiles' waist and legs to hold him up. Stiles was much lighter than he looked, probably because he was tall but slim. Stiles looked surprised and had held on to his shoulders to avoid falling but Derek was pretty confident he could hold him up without any help.

"Holy shit you're strong," Stiles breathed out, which made him weirdly proud.

"I'm not gonna drop you." Derek said, Stiles smiled and kissed him again, this time more deeply and slowly. "Is this too much?" he asked after the kiss.

"We're adults." Stiles answered in a lower voice, tickling him with his breath. "You don't have to explain anything to anyone."

Derek felt a little more confident after that, and then he took Stiles to the couch to softly lay him down. Stiles didn't let him get too far and pulled him in from the front of his shirt for another kiss, a longer kiss that lead Derek between Stiles legs, half laying on the couch with him. They kissed for a few minutes until Derek felt his lips numb and Stiles' were red and warm.

He stood up, though, and sat by Stiles' side, exhaling and running his hand through his hair. There was a strange feeling sitting in his chest that didn't want to go away. Was it guilt? Was he feeling self-conscious?

"I'm sorry." Stiles said, sitting up facing Derek, close but not too much.

"No, I'm- it's been a long time."

"I pushed you, it's okay, it's really fine." Stiles put his hand on Derek's shoulder and only then Derek realized his own right hand was caressing Stiles' knee. "I meant what I said, I want you to tell me if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"You're making me very comfortable, Stiles," Derek smiled at him, touching the other's chin with his free hand.

Stiles smiled back and gave him the sweetest kiss on the forehead, "we can watch a movie if you still want to stay."

"Sure."

Stiles only stretched up a bit to grab the remote and set Netflix up. Derek looked at him as he surfed looking for something that both wanted to check, Derek pointed at the movies that were on his Watch list and Stiles chuckled when he said he was obsessed with House of Cards, "of course you are," he said as he gave Derek the remote so he could try and put something on.

Derek only looked for a minute until he found one of the Star Wars movies he actually liked.

"You like Star Wars?" Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow as if he was waiting for the answer to decide if he was worthy of his time or not.

"I watched them with my dad when I was younger, I've seen them but I'm not a fan. You?"

"That's the most innocent question anyone has ever asked me. I've watched New Hope 23 times."

"You and my dad would get along."

As they watched the movie, Stiles asked him some questions about his family and Malia, always making sure Derek would be okay with them. Whenever Stiles asked a question and got an answer, Derek got to ask one back and so on. Stiles was in the middle of telling him about his dad's and Scott's mom's wedding when they noticed Darth Vader and Obi Wan were going to fight.

"Did you think about my invitation?" Derek asked out of the blue, he suddenly remembered what he had asked Stiles over the weekend.

"I have." Stiles answered a little awkwardly.

"It's okay if you don't want to come, it's too soon, I know, it'd be-"

"If I said yes... what would it mean for Malia?"

"I'd have to tell her about us." Derek answered facing Stiles on the couch, "would you be okay with that?"

"I'm not gonna lie and say I'm absolutely sure everything will be fine. Mainly because kids are unpredictable." Derek let him think not mentioning a word, he knew Stiles was scared Malia wouldn't take it well and therefore ruining their friendship, which was something Derek could relate to, he wasn't sure he would be able to handle that situation. Even if it worked with Stiles, what if Malia didn't like it? He had been single for a long time, Malia barely even remembered his previous girlfriend and it had been a short relationship so she only saw her come and go because she hardly spent time with the both of them -Jen had always been weirdly awkward around his daughter, Derek didn't judge, not all people were comfortable around kids, but he wished she had tried to know Malia a little bit-. This time was different, though. Malia had bonded with Stiles first, before Derek even started to see him as more than Malia's teacher and taking that from her was not in his plan. He would have to think of something, maybe a way to tell her that would not be so shocking.

"If it's overly complicated for you I understand if you want to take the invitation back."

"Isn't this you projecting?"

"What? No!" Stiles blushed a bit, to which Derek smiled. He took the younger's hand and caressed it to try and help him relax (touching Stiles' hand made him feel better too, even if Stiles had started biting inside his mouth and moving his leg in a clear gesture of anxiousness). "It's not that I don't want to. I'm just... scared. Not of your family -okay, maybe a little bit of them too- but of her reaction. This might be really confusing for her and I don't think I can handle it if she ends up hating me."

Derek nodded, Stiles was right to be worried about that, he knew Malia and he had grown close and this wasn't the easiest thing to explain to your six-year-old who happened to see her teacher as if he was the sun.

"I don't think she'd end up hating you, to be honest," he took Stiles' hand to his lips to kiss his fingers, "you braid her hair." Derek felt comfortable enough to push himself forward and kiss Stiles. That one kiss was followed by a second and a third. "Like I promised before, I'll tell you when I plan to tell her," he whispered to the other's lips, "we still have time," he continued with another kiss.

"For what, exactly?" Stiles giggled into his mouth which made Derek catch his face to kiss him harder making Stiles laugh now. He laughed nicely, Derek wasn't sure he had heard him laugh like that before. They kept kissing until Derek heard the distant sound of credits on the screen and Stiles' fingers where running deliciously through his hair. He loved how that felt, the other's fingertips running lazily behind his ears and down his neck as they slowly kissed.

Netflix had probably gone back to the menu when Derek's lips went down Stiles' cheek and started kissing his neck as he heard the other breathe out and moaning softly. The fingers on his head were now both pulling him closer and grabbing the collar of his shirt. He wanted to look at Stiles' face but he couldn't take his mouth off the warm skin, and he even felt a little ticklish when the other's hands ran through his collarbone under his shirt and finally back to his head. He immediately noticed how good it felt again, it was like Stiles' hands on his hair turned him on with a simple touch.

Stiles moaned close to his right ear and he licked his lips to kiss him again, now completely on top of him, being careful not to put his whole weight on the other, just like earlier.

He knew he was getting all hot, and Stiles was too judging by how absolutely fucking great his voice sounded when he sighed and moaned and his hands traveled down Stiles' legs, grabbing at his thighs over the jeans. Stiles opened them to let Derek get closer -even putting one off the couch so Derek would have more space- and then both of them let a deep sigh out when they touched. Stiles' hands left his neck to wander down the front of his shirt, fondling with the buttons there but not really opening them. Derek would have snorted if he hadn't been busy kissing him and leaving marks where he was tracing moles.

"Oh, sorry," Stiles breathed out, probably just realizing he was touching Derek's shirt.

If Derek had to be completely honest he was a second away from just tearing off the piece of clothing and humping Stiles if he was into it.

"I didn't meant to- I mean I did but only if you want to." Stiles confessed, keeping his hands on the third button on Derek's shirt.

"I totally want to," Derek said holding himself up with both his arms, "it might last 2 minutes and I might end up humiliating myself, though."

"Really?" Stiles asked biting his lips, not like moments ago but raising an eyebrow and almost like challenging Derek.

Derek wished he wouldn't look so attractive doing that.

"I told you it's been a long time and this is something else that's definitely not like riding a bike." He said sincerely, which wasn't a lie, like he had told Stiles it had been a long time since the last time he had sex and he was afraid he wouldn't last that much. Stiles was younger and expected more and Derek was not sure he would do a good job at it right now. As incredible as it was feeing at the moment.

"Like I said before, we don't have to do anything, don't panic," Stiles said, running his palms up his chest, "but if you want me to get you off, I can do that."

Derek had to swallow hard at those words, Stiles had never looked so unbelievably hot as he did now and it was hard -really really hard- to take a deep breath and blurt out a strangled no. He did look down between their legs and saw that they were both in the same situation and suddenly felt ashamed, he was teasing Stiles and backing off, he didn't want the other to feel like he was purposefully leading him on.

"Do _you_ want me to?" he offered, hearing in his own voice shaking with a mix of genuine lust and insecurity.

Stiles smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose, "no, I can do it myself." After saying that he wanted to sit up but Derek didn't let him.

"When we do this again... I'd like to watch." Derek could barely notice Stiles' intake of breath as he said that.

"As long as you tell me whenever I'm making you feel uncomfortable," Stiles asked when he recovered.

Derek kissed his forehead and then his lips, just a little touch, before he answered, "Deal."

"I was going to offer a lap dance but we can do that next time."

Derek almost tripped and hit his face with the coffee table when he stood up. Stiles trying not to smile behind him as he stood up too. "I uh- should probably go."

"If you change your mind on your way out I'll be here, big guy." Stiles winked purposefully to make Derek blush, which happened, of course.

The older took his jacket from the chair close to the door and waited for Stiles to say goodbye. "Malia has been talking nonstop about the birthday party, are you still going?"

"Yes. First advice: try not looking attractive, the single moms are gonna hit on you and it's gonna be weird."

Derek sighed remembering the first few times at PTC had been so awkward with some of the teachers and moms that he never wanted to go again. Laura went with him a couple times and then the moms stopped smiling at him in a predatory way and asking him weird questions about Malia and where did he go to the gym.

"You look pale," Stiles caressed Derek's stubble in a sign of sympathy, "it's going to be fine, and you only have to be there for a while. If you don't want to go I can keep an eye on Malia for you, though."

"Tempting," Derek thanked him and smiled at the fact that Stiles could simply offer to take care of Malia now and she would be pretty excited about it. Would that be the same after she knew they were together? "but we're gonna be fine, I don't want her to feel alone, it's her first birthday party after a while."

"I'm going to keep an eye on _both_ of you," Stiles put his hands on Derek's cheek for a final kiss that turned into a dozen mini ones after Derek finally decided to pull away to leave.

"See you on Tuesday, I think."

"You think?"

"I was assigned a new project and I have to terrorize interns into starting to get everything we need, it might take a while."

"I'll forgive you if you send a picture of you in your working clothes."

"I wear a suit?" Derek said a little confused.

"Exactly."

Derek snorted and waved at him to go, if he kissed him again he would never really leave. As he exited the building and got in his car he noticed his smile hadn't disappeared, much less after he got a message from Stiles with a picture of him doing a ridiculous ugly face that he kept in his camera roll and wished he could show it to Malia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am never in my life setting up deadlines for fics again. Ever.
> 
> So this comes as a late birthday present for me (lol) and an early birthday present for Dani. This is absolutely a self-indulgent excuse of an update. Hope you like it, guys!!!!  
> We're only a few chapters left, and like I said I'm planning on a few ficlets I can add to this, if you have any suggestions you can totally tell me :D
> 
> PS: Oh, I swear to god I didn't take Derek's dad's name from shadowhunters/TMI but it was a nice coincidence lol  
> PS 2: Here's the recipe for the [creamy pasta Stiles made if you want](http://www.manilaspoon.com/2014/08/creamy-pasta-with-pancetta-and-mushrooms.html)
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little kid's birthdays are awesome, really. Free food and matchmaking? Sure!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, up until this point, I'm just too ashamed to keep saying sorry. So just- just take the chapter and I'll hope for the best, omg.  
> At least I can tell you we're almost done with this story. Thank you so much for keeping up with my stupidly slow writing times.
> 
> I'm sorry, really guys, life has been just horrible and stressful and I'm doing my best :(((

Funny thing about children's birthday parties was that all the adults thought it was the perfect time to show off their kids' accomplishments and somehow compete with the others to see who had the most annoying/tiring brat, which had always sounded pretty fucked up in Stiles' honest opinion; the good thing was that if you didn't care about it -or weren't a part of the Long-Suffering Parents ClubTM\- you could relax and actually enjoy the free food and check out Derek, who was chatting with Vanessa and looking at Malia and Kyle, who were playing with other kids to catch a colorful ball.

Stiles had just gotten there and had been greeted by Mr. Parrish who invited him to the backyard where everyone else was. There weren't too many parents, only a few besides Derek and Christopher, who was Malia's friend's dad. Derek looked relaxed enough or at least not nervous. Before he got closer he took a moment to check him out: he was wearing simple jeans and a dark burgundy t-shirt that made Stiles' fingertips itch. He sighed, though, and took the few steps across the backyard to meet them.

"Hi, Mr. Hale, Vanessa," suppressed the urge to wink at him and greeted both of them with a hand shake, which made him feel weird, considering he had been making out with Derek in his apartment a week ago and secretly kissed during the week in the Waltz lesson. Very professional.

"I'm so glad you could come, Stiles! Kyle has been asking about you, he's playing over there," she pointed at her kid and the couple others, they were now trying to stand on their hands, Malia was helping him out while others tried to follow a dark-haired kid Stiles didn't know. As Vanessa told them out loud that he had arrived, most of the kids came running to him and hugged him. Stiles kneeled in front of them and noticed how tall some of them had got. Soon they were going to be taller than he was.

"Hey, guys! How are you? How's the party? Happy birthday Kyle!" he said giving Kyle a tight hug and messing his hair, Kyle -the adorable child he was- introduced the one Stiles didn't know.

"This is my friend Grayson, he's new at school."

"Hey, buddy, how are you? You're really good at handstands, you have to teach us!" he winked at the boy, who blushed a little but gave him a thumbs up.

"Hey, princess, you look lovely today," Stiles opened his arms inviting Malia to hug him but not pushing her to do so, she smiled shyly and got closer and gave him a big hug with her arms around his neck. She was wearing a pretty red dress with leggings under it and her hair was braided back, the shorter locks arranged with a black hair band so it wouldn't bother her while playing. No way Derek had done that.

"Daddy's over there!" Malia said excitedly after the hug, pointing at Derek, who had been looking at them but turned when he say Malia was pointing him.

"I'm gonna say hi to him, keep playing."

When Stiles got to Derek and the other parents, they were talking about cars. Derek was telling Christopher how he had always wanted a Camaro but couldn't fit the baby car seat, which made the other laugh and pat his back in understanding.

Vanessa offered him a beer, to which Stiles said yes, he wasn't driving anyway. She made him follow her into the kitchen to pick what he wanted and when he was getting his hand in the freezer she told him, "hey, did you know Derek is single?"

That took him by surprise and couldn't form a word in the next three seconds, "uh... I uh, I heard?"

"He's very nice, and he's an architect," she put one hand on her hip and smiled looking for a response Stiles wasn't sure he had, "You get along, don't you?"

_Oh._

Oh, she was trying to set them up. Precious Vanessa, precious Parrish family, they were all so cute and nice. Stiles wanted to hug her and tell her "I'm already on it."

"We do." Stiles occupied himself opening the bottle and trying not to smirk, Vanessa was quite perceptive.

"I saw him looking at you when you were hugging Malia."

Stiles almost choked a little but managed to cover it up. Vanessa was looking at him with an excited smile, almost like she was going to start skipping. Perceptive indeed.

"Maybe he doesn't like me hugging her, I'll ask," he said, trying to walk away before she started asking more questions.

"Stiles!"

He waved at her to come out and quickly walked to the parents, to a safe area. Derek smiled at him once and Stiles suddenly understood what Vanessa was talking about. Ugh he wanted to kiss him so bad.

Stiles didn't know where Derek's insecurities about being around other parents had come from because he seemed to be okay with them, Christopher was a really nice guy who made everyone feel comfortable and never asked weird questions and the other parents were decent, they never asked about Malia's mom or something. Stiles was glad because he didn't feel like fighting with people right now.

After they sang to Kyle, he went to open presents and adorably high-fiving his friends when he got an exciting toy or graphic shirt. Derek was standing by his side and Stiles almost jumped when he felt a hand caressing his, safely covered by the sofa and someone's head sitting in front of them.

Stiles hid his smile and clapped when Kyle celebrated a new present, enjoying the short seconds they got to touch hands as Kyle unwrapped more presents.

When it was time to go, Derek was already holding Malia in his arms, all the kids were absolutely worn out and lying on the couch or in their parents' arms, barely saying good bye to the others when they were picked up from the house.

Stiles said goodbye to Kyle and his parents and when he went for Derek and Malia, he brushed the little girl's hair away from her eyes, "Time to go home, I'll see you in class, princess," he said softly.

"Hey, do you want me to take you home?" Derek said as they went out of the house, "you said you're on foot."

"My car's at the shop. Don't worry."

"Come on, it's not far away," Derek gave him a little nudge to guide him to the car. Malia suddenly raised her head.

"Are we going to see Stiles' house?" she asked curiously, Derek let her down when they got to the car.

"Well, it's an apartment, so you'll see a big building."

"Like ours, we live in an amap... apartment!"she got in back of the car and put her seatbelt on. Derek signed him to get in the front and he did.

"Do you live alone?" Malia asked. Derek was starting the car and putting his glasses on. Glasses with a thick black frame that made him look absolutely gorgeous.

This man, Stiles couldn't deal with it.

"I do, I used to live with my brother but he moved in with his girlfriend last year and I found a smaller place for myself."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Malia asked playing with her long braid. She had totally recharged energy those few minutes in Derek's arms.

"Malia..." Derek warned looking on the rear mirror, he also gave Stiles a knowing look, like telling him not to answer.

"I don't," he wasn't nervous. He wasn't going to lie to Malia but it was Derek's call to tell her when they were ready, so he just gave the minimum answer.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" now he gave Derek a short glance before answering again.

"Nope, I don't."

"My daddy doesn't have one too." She meant to say 'either' but neither Derek nor Stiles interrupted to correct her. "Aunt Laura says he should get a boyfriend or a girlfriend for the wedding or it will be sad."

Stiles had to laugh at that, he couldn't help it and for a second he dared to touch Derek's hand on the shift; the other was blushing a little as he looked the streets to get to Stiles' place.

"Laura should mind her own business." Derek's tone was a little childish in Stiles' opinion but endearing nonetheless.

"Why did Aunt Laura say that, Daddy?"

"Uh... usually people take a date for weddings, see Cora is going to take Kira, uncle Peter is going to take Sarah, and so on."

"Can I take a date?"

" _No_." Derek said immediately, which Stiles wished he had recorded. _How cute are these two, really_.

Stiles saw Malia tilt her head to the side like a confused puppy so he looked back and said, "your daddy means you are his date already, you're allowed to bring one only."

"Oh, yeah! Daddy, I'm your date, don't worry, I carry the flowers and dance with you!"

"Thanks, kitty, what would I have done without a date?"

"You could take Stiles!"

Stiles had to turn away from Malia and sit straight, with his eyes fixed on the glove compartment, his face was flushed. It was Derek's' turn to smirk this time, probably because he knew his own kid and he knew what she meant.

"Because he's a good dancer, right?"

"Yes!" she answered thrilled.

"This is my place." Stiles said when he saw his building. Derek was still smiling when he parked outside. The bastard.

"Good bye, Stiles!" Malia waved at him, seemingly forgetting about what she had proposed.

"Good night, Stiles." Derek waved too, and Stiles had to once again refrain from reaching and kissing him good night.

"See you at the school, thanks for bringing me, guys!" Stiles said goodbye to both of them and saw them drive away, his heart full with excitement, and the fact that Malia had apparently no problem with him being Derek's 'date'. At least the way she saw it.

 

**

"I know what she said but no pressure, ok? I wasn't setting you up or anything."

 Stiles was on the phone, waiting for Scott and Allison, who were coming to get him for lunch. Derek said he was waiting for Malia, who was getting ready, they were going for lunch with Derek's parents.

"I was going to tell you the same thing." Stiles answered on the phone.

"She's just worried I'll look funny dancing by myself... while everyone else is with their date."

"Are you trying to make me feel pity?"

"No... I'm gonna let my daughter do that when the time comes." Derek was joking but Stiles secretly hoped everything went well if he wanted to tell Malia about them.

The birthday party had been okay, only that one moment in which Derek got a little too self-conscious about his parenting skills, but everything else had been great and Malia had even said that about him being her dad's date, even with all her innocence, it had made Stiles happy to know it wasn't an outrageous thing for Malia.

It was too early to worry about that, though, he put those feelings aside, enjoying Derek's voice on the phone. He missed him, he wanted to see him that evening but it was impossible, Derek was going to spend the day with his family.

"I really want to kiss you right now." Stiles sat on his bed, putting his shoes on.

"I'd like to do the same, I will. Tomorrow. Can I?" Derek's voice sounded awkward, like he hadn't planned it. They had initially agreed on later that week but now...

"Yes, please." He heard the front door open, it was Scott, who had a key to his place. "Gotta go, I'll text the time."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

Stiles hung up and went to meet Scott and Allison, they were both dressed nicely for a lunch out and Allison hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"You look great. Who were you talking to?" she asked with a sharp smile, not smooth at all.

"A client, _mom_ ," he teased and grabbed his stuff, "let's go, I'm so hungry."

"I want Italian." Scott said taking Allison's hand.

"I want... whatever you want, I could literally eat an entire horse." Allison closed the door behind her.

"Scott is picking this time."

 

**

Stiles had been practicing when his phone buzzed with a new message. It was Monday and he had to get ready for the next choreography, as he was warming up he picked up his phone and smiled when he saw it was Derek.

"I'll be there in 10 if you're free."

He quickly answered an enthusiastic "yessss!" and kept practicing until the doorbell rang. When he opened, Derek immediately gave him a smile and Stiles grabbed him by the jacket to make him come inside.

"Hey, big guy."

They kissed hard after Derek closed the door behind him and Stiles jumped, the other took his legs and put them around his waist to carry him.

"Yes! Surprise visit!" Stiles said in between kisses, firmly holding on to Derek's neck and waist until the older laid him on the couch.

"I have to go in like half an hour, though." Derek kissed him desperately like he was already running out of time.

"Nooo..." Stiles pouted and Derek kissed him again. He caressed Derek's cheeks and neck and ran his fingers through his nape, to which Derek shivered and kissed him deeply, nibbling on his lip and chin.

Derek liked to run his hands over Stiles' thighs, grabbing as if making sure Stiles was his to touch, sometimes his fingers went under his shirt to touch more skin and make him squirm, but his favorite thing to do was massage his thighs, Stiles noticed after a few minutes.

When his lips were numb he felt Derek's lips going to his neck, his beard was scratching his skin in the most delicious way, making him sigh and call his name. His own hands were ghosting over Derek's dress shirt and tie and he started to lose it while Derek shifted from his neck to his lips.

He stopped for a moment there, not sure if what he was doing made Derek comfortable or not. His doubts disappeared when the other whispered "it's okay..." as soon as he noticed his hesitation, so Stiles started massaging the other's chest, teasing the buttons and loosing the tie a little more.

His legs were wrapped around Derek, pulling him closer, and the older only had to pass his arm under his waist to effortlessly lift him up and keep kissing him. It was so... hot, Stiles could only kiss and bite to let him know.

He did notice Derek hadn't taken the jacket off, so Stiles rested his back against the couch to let Derek do that, and kept kissing, with the lose tie and wrinkled dress shirt.

Derek said something like "I'm gonna be done in two minutes, literally," which made Stiles laugh out loud, and neither of them heard the door open and close before it was too late.

"What the fuck, Stiles?! _Again_?!"

Derek automatically pulled away from him, almost falling off the couch, and Stiles followed, looking over to the door. Scott was standing there with his mouth open and a horrified expression.

Okay. Awkward.

"I have told you not to do that without a heads up. For your own good. And I could consider it payback, anyway!" Stiles said trying to calm down, Derek was still a little bit shaken, he was blushing and trying to fix his clothes.

"I thought-... Mr. Hale?!!" Scott yelled, shocked, and Stiles noticed he had only realized who was with him. "what the fuck?!"

"Scott! Shut up!" Stiles got off the couch while Derek finished fixing his tie. He put a hand on his thigh to make him feel better, but that ended quickly because he needed to talk to Scott. "Listen, if you tell Allison I'm gonna-!"

"This is so weird..." Scott said with a very confused look that would be considered cute in a different situation.

"I... I- I better go," Derek said clearing his throat while he walked towards the door. Stiles followed him trying not to trip over the couch.

"Wait here for a second," Stiles pointed to Scott, who followed Derek with a frown.

Stiles closed the door behind them and turned to look at Derek, who know looked calm, much more than a minute ago.

"I don't mind..." Derek said in a low voice in the now very quiet corridor, "I mean, if he tells his girlfriend... as long as he-"

"I know, I know! He won't tell if I ask him, and he won't tell Malia either, I promise," he answered fast, worried that Derek wouldn't trust his word or Scott's and decide to stop everything there.

"You're freaking out a bit," Derek told him and smiled. Stiles wanted to kiss him but if he started he wouldn't stop.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

It was Derek who kissed him before he finished the sentence to reassure him. Stiles breathed out and closed his eyes for a second and put his hands on Derek's chest.

"Calm down. See you soon."

"Okay," Stiles sighed. "Practice your moves!" he waved as Derek walked away, the other waved back with a smile until he got in the elevator.

He was taken by surprised by Scott yet again, when he turned around and saw the other spying from a crack on the door.

"Seriously?" Stiles deadpanned and entered his apartment.

"You have a lot to explain, bro."

"Are you _trying_ to be a pain in the ass?... Thanks for that! Every single time I caught you with Allison I had the decency to go away immediately!"

"It's not the same situation! I was in shock!"

Stiles sat in the couch while Scott did the same, now his face was completely different, he wasn't annoyed or confused.

"So... Mr. Hale, huh?" Scott asked curiously, "since when?"

"A couple of weeks." Stiles didn't want to look at him, he knew he was kind of blushing. Weird, he had lost the ability to be ashamed in front of Scott 10 years ago.

"And you were planning on telling me when?"

"It's complicated, we don't want Malia to find out by accident. I get all anxious just imagining her finding out and hating me."

"I don't think she'll do that, she adores you."

"Still, I don't want to risk it."

"So... it's going... fast..." Scott raised an eyebrow at him and got closer.

"No, it's not." Stiles put his hand on his brother's shoulder to keep him away. "We're just...- you know? I'm not telling you anything if you don't promise not to tell Allison."

"But it's Allison!"

"It's important, please, just for a week. I know you can keep a secret if you make an effort, especially if it's not yours to tell."

Scott sighed and nodded. Stiles wasn't really worried Scott was going to tell Allison, but he had to make sure first.

"How long are you going to wait? You know more people are going to find out and it's going to be more difficult to keep it a secret."

"We are not purposefully trying to keep it a secret, it's Malia we're protecting. Though I want to be very honest, I'm enjoying the privacy." He winked at Scott.

"Ew."

"Nothing has happened between us, Scott, stop making faces."

"Oh... did I cockblock you? I'm sorry, bro, I'm really sorry!" Scott looked troubled for real, bless his soul.

"It's not like that. We had like 10 minutes for ourselves. He just stopped by to say hi," Stiles still felt the sweet burn of Derek's beard on his chest

"So the sooner you tell Malia the best." Scott said that as a matter of fact, however Stiles' chest hurt at the thought of the little girl looking at him with sadness and mistrust.

He hoped that Derek found the perfect words, even though children were unpredictable as hell.

Thinking about her taking it great warmed his heart, it made him dream of walks in the park and dancing together in his living room as Derek watched with a smile on his face. That was probably not how it was going to go, but Stiles could only hope.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is only a little scared of a six-year-old, don't judge.  
> News are given, ice cream is eaten, congratulations are in order; and Derek is more than happy to follow Stiles on one particular kind of dance.  
> I cannot believe you got laid because of Sway, Derek, seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: Please notice that the fic's rating has gone up due to this update. Thank you for reading and waiting for my absurdly long periods of no updating. I'm so sorry! This is probably the second to last chapter, so I hope you like it!  
> It took me really long to get out of a block but here you have! Extra long chapter to make up for the... 3 months(?) of waiting (in Azkaban)  
> Tell me what you think<3

Stiles was talking to Derek when he was arranging the chairs in his room at the Studio, the group was going to practice a new choreography and finish the super difficult one that at some point had made Stiles regret saying yes to Isaac. He probably had a stupid smile on his face because he got teased not once but five times and Lydia rolled her eyes at him.

"Give me that phone, you need to focus on these steps or you're going to fall on your butt." Lydia made a gesture and Stiles gave him his phone. She went to sit on the floor with the other dancers who weren't going to be in this choreography. Isaac gave some instructions and started going over the steps a few times before he played the music.

The [choreography was all sharp moves and fast pace](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho1y-4mXIL0), which in Stiles' opinion was the hardest part, it made it a little more difficult to follow. Isaac was in the front, of course, he was the best dancer of the group. The others weren't struggling so much to get the general rhythm and they had it nailed after a few tries. The original dance choreography had some seconds with no steps so Isaac had made up a few to cover those moments and as he was teaching them to the others, Stiles got closer to Lydia to drink some water.

"I miss dancing with you," Lydia told him playing with her hair.

"Awww, babe," Stiles wiped his face with his towel and put his head on her shoulder to show appreciation, they hadn't been dancing together lately, mainly because the projects didn't require it and Lydia was very busy with the Academy paperwork too, "did you have something in mind?"

"Make some room for me next week, I have a song I have to practice and Jackson won't cooperate this time."

"Which one?"

"Sway, the Bublé version," Lydia winked at him and Stiles rolled his eyes a little, trying to imagine Jackson dancing to that song, he was an average occasional dancer who enjoyed indulging his girlfriend but no way he would follow Lydia's training on a song like that, especially if she wanted to do it _So You Think You Can Dance_ style. Stiles wasn't sure he could do it either.

"I'd make it unsexy, though, you know I can't really nail the whole... sexiness."

"You can be sexy, you're not great at dancing this kind of style but you can be sexy, ask your dance dad," she whispered at the end.

"You're funny." Stiles didn't really picture himself seducing Derek dancing that way, he knew he could dance to other types of songs but this one was not his thing.

"I'm also very smart and I'm telling you, ask him," she winked again, "Monday morning, I want you here to help me practice, my real dance partner is going to arrive in two weeks and I can't wait that long."

"You're cheating on me?" Stiles squinted at her.

"Yes." Lydia smiled bright at him and kissed his forehead to leave the Room as Isaac called him back to keep practicing for another hour.

 

**

Mr. Hale: _"So, my mom is pestering me about taking Malia for the day so I can have a date with you."_

Stiles S.: _"I like your mom."_

Derek smiled at that last text, he had been a little nervous about offering a date but his mother had insisted _several_ times and she had already planned a fun evening for Malia and the little girl was too excited to be spending the whole evening and Sunday with them.

_Mr. Hale: "Is Saturday okay for you?"_

Stiles S.: _"Saturday is perfect, do you want to come here?"_

Mr Hale: _"Sure, tell me what time you're gonna be free and I'll be there."_

Stiles S.: _"7, Mr. Hale ;)"_

Mr. Hale: _"I'm getting you beer."_

Stiles S.: _"Stop seducing me, you already got me."_

Derek had to smile big at that, and he might have looked a little ridiculous because an intern who came into his office looked at him like he had caught him wearing a clown costume. He gave him the reports he needed and went back to his phone to answer Stiles.

Mr. Hale: _"I'll see you on Saturday for practice first, then."_

Stiles S.: _"Double opportunity to see you. Nice."_

He said good bye after that and texted his mother to let her know that yes, he was going to take Malia on Saturday to her place, and also yes, he was going to see Stiles.

Talia had insisted because according to her Derek was in a better mood and didn’t seem so tired all the time since he started seeing Stiles. “If he’s helping you with that, I don’t want to know, I’m glad but please don’t tell me how.” She had winked at him leaving Derek all blushed like he was some teenager. He had a daughter but his mother could still make him feel awkward about sex, of course.

His dad only laughed in the background and supported the idea of getting to sit Malia again so soon, Derek had always been careful not to abuse their parents’ good will, they were her grandparents and were happy to take care of her but Derek was proud and had insisted on only reducing it to only a couple of times a month if he really needed them to take her. Malia enjoyed her time with Talia and Alec and never really missed him when she stayed over at their place and Derek loved them for that. He was sure they were wishing for more grandkids and sometimes teased Laura about it. She and Alex had agreed on waiting some time after getting married before having kids, and neither Cora nor Kira were interested in having kids so that left them enjoying the one grandchild they had.

When he picked Malia from school and told her she was going to spend the whole Saturday with her grandmother she jumped up and down asking how many days were left for that and if he knew what Talia had planned for her.

“I don’t, but I’m sure it’s going to be great,” Derek put the seatbelt on smiling back at her.

“Do you have work, Daddy?”

“No, I’m going to meet a friend.” He said without much detail, he hadn’t discussed it with Stiles yet and he was sure that if he said Stiles’ name Malia would want to go.

“Okay.” Malia accepted that answer as if it was so normal. The truth was that Derek didn’t have many friends, only a few from college he texted with but never really saw because they had been studying in France for a few months now.  “Daddy, can we put the video for Avi? I want to show him the dance I learned with Stiles.”

“Sure, kitty.”

He had already made the choice to tell his daughter about Stiles, he just had to talk to him first and agree on the terms. Derek knew it made Stiles anxious but it was for the best, and as much as he appreciated the privacy he also wanted to spend time with Stiles in public, ask him on real dates, take him for coffee, not hiding and worrying that someone could see them, he found that he wanted Malia to be a part of it too, maybe they would get along so well that they would have much more fun, who knew? They wouldn’t know if they didn’t try. Derek didn’t want to take that from them.

**

 

Derek got the sweetest kiss when he got to the apartment, still holding the beer he had anticipated and putting his other arm around Stiles as soon as he could. They kissed for a moment before Stiles let him walk inside taking his hand.

“There you have your kiss.” He gave him a peck after that and invited him into the small kitchen to have a beer. Derek told him about Malia and how excited she was to go for a walk on the beach with her grandparents. They had left after lunch and Derek had had time to finish a project he was working on freelance, he promised to take Stiles to see one of the buildings he helped design in the city.

An hour later, Stiles got off the kitchen counter he was sitting on. “Leave the beer in the fridge and help me move this back,” Stiles asked, going to the coffee table between the couch and TV, it was pushed to the side and there was a rolled yoga mat by the side, which he picked up and put away inside his bedroom.

“Of course you were doing yoga,” Derek went to his side.

“I was actually practicing a new choreography for Lydia, thank you. But before that I was doing yoga with Allison while Scott napped.”

“I forgot to ask about your brother, did he say something to you?”

“Not after I explained, but he asks about you.”

“Really?” It was a relief that Scott didn’t hate him or kept going with his big brother act and passively threatening to punch him. Derek wasn’t scared or intimidated but he had no interest in having an awkward relationship with Stiles’ family and friends.

“He asked if you were visiting me and treating me well as a proper gentleman should.” Stiles smirked and pointed at the other side of the table so Derek followed his directions. “He’s just worried because the last person I kind of dated was an asshole, which you’re not.”

“You have faith in me.”

“Please, Derek, you brought me beer and earlier during lesson you asked if you could touch my waist.”

“We were in a public space.” Derek explained. They had been smiling at each other the whole hour of Waltz lesson earlier that day –if someone had witness the class, they’d have probably successfully guessed they were dating- and promised to be on time later for the proper kiss he couldn’t get in the Academy. “What dance were you practicing?”

“Uh, Lydia is going to perform for a fancy engagement party with some other person, she’s doing Sway.”

Derek knew that song but not as much to mentally remember the actual melody and or rhythm. “Are you helping her practice?” he asked while they moved the coffee table back to its place.

“Just until her partner arrives from Colorado.”

“Could you show me a bit?”

“No.” Stiles answered with a smile.

“Since when are you shy? I’ve seen you dance a dozen times.”

“I’m not confident about this one, it’s not really my kind of dance,” Stiles shrugged.

“Stiles, you’re talking to a person who needs dance lessons.”

Stiles looked back at him and sighed, he nodded but warned Derek, “Fine, but I’m not gonna dance the actual choreography for you, I’m gonna show you some steps, deal?”

Derek agreed, took his jacket off and waited for Stiles to put the song on his TV.

[He knew this version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZM-5SYr2Yk), he supposed he had listened to it in the radio or something. The pace was nice and slow enough to understand how the dance would go. Stiles took his hands and started moving to the music, swaying his hips and putting Derek’s hands on his waist after a few seconds.

“Try to follow me.”

“Don’t ask for impossible things.” Derek answered but walked with Stiles away from the table. The younger took the lead and spun while holding his hands as if Derek could follow and actually dance. He could watch Stiles dance to whatever he wished for hours, Derek was sure.

After the first chorus Stiles turned around and crossed Derek’s arms in front of him to keep swinging to one side and the other with ease. Derek put his chin on the other’s shoulder and kissed the side of his face to encourage him to continue. Stiles smiled at him and kept dancing softly in Derek’s arms.

He turned again and put his arms around Derek’s neck, dancing to the music, moving his hips left and right and going a little lower to tease Derek as he grew more confident in what he was doing. Derek was glad to be helpful.

Stiles took Derek’s right hand to spin a few more times and make him step forward and backwards, which Derek awkwardly did, Stiles grinned at him and went back to his arms, as Derek immediately put his hands on his waist to feel the movement under them.

He dared to pull him closer, so close that their chests were touching and Stiles could only move his hips as the final chorus of the song started to play and the music stopped for half a second before it went back to the same pace.

Stiles kissed him softly when Derek actually stopped paying attention to the song and guided his hands behind the other’s thighs and yanked him up so Stiles was –after gasping- automatically putting his legs around Derek’s waist.

The song stopped and something different started playing, something Derek didn’t really listen to, because now Stiles’ hands were on the back of his head caressing in a way he felt he had to press him into the nearest wall and kiss him senseless.

Which he did.

Stiles let a soft moan out as Derek pushed him against the wall and kissed him deeply, still holding him up with no problem at all. This might be the hottest way to kiss Stiles could think of, he had never been manhandled like Derek apparently liked to do just for a kiss before and he was loving it.

He grabbed Derek’s hair and played with it while he tried to pull him closer, which was really impossible since Derek was pressed against him, caressing his thighs. His jeans started feeling really uncomfortable and he prepared to pause the kiss and ask Derek if he was okay with touching in the couch but he didn’t have a chance because now Derek was moving him –with little to no effort at all –seriously, it was going to light Stiles on _fire_ \- to the bedroom to place him on the bed.

“Okay, I didn’t think what I was doing…” Derek admitted after falling in the bed after him.

“It’s fine,” Stiles kissed his cheek to reassure him, trying to ignore the bulk he felt against his thigh.

Derek was quiet for a moment when Stiles felt one of his hands touch the skin under the shirt he was wearing, playing with the rim of his jeans and the belt as if asking for permission to unbuckle it. Stiles followed the movement with his eyes and then looked at Derek, and that was when he knew that the other was actually asking for permission to keep going.

He guided Derek’s hands to his belt without breaking eye contact.

The older kissed him again, accommodating himself on the bed so his hands could properly do their job in taking the piece of clothing off. Stiles could only stare for a second before helping Derek on his task and roaming his own hands on his chest and his hair. He enjoyed making Derek moan when he touched his hair.

Derek was wearing a nice dark burgundy shirt that Stiles started unbuttoning impatiently. He removed it as he finished another kiss, just to take a moment and appreciate what he was looking at.

Derek was not only gorgeous all dressed but also half naked, and Stiles had to sigh in actual awe at his muscles. There was the reason to his strength, of course, that was why his partner had no problem holding him up for a long time.

“How am I supposed to take my shirt off now?” Stiles whined, making Derek let a breathy laugh out.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Derek finally took his pants completely off and stared. He actually _stared_. “I really like your legs.”

“Huh?” Stiles was caught off guard when Derek’s mouth started kissing the inside of his left knee, making him squirm and moan, grabbing at the sheets under him to cope with the feeling of Derek’s beard scratching the sensitive place for the first time.

It felt so good that he put one of his legs on Derek’s shoulder to give him more comfortable access and Derek kept doing the same as he kissed inch by inch until he reached his thighs. He took off his underwear and without much warning put his mouth on him to make him moan louder again. Stiles threw his whole body backwards and yelped in surprise but had to bite his lip to keep himself from actually moaning so loud the neighbors would hear.

He saw Derek’s head bob up and down and reached for his hair to grasp when he was getting so close he had to focus on speaking again.

“Derek… I’m- ahh…“ he moaned, and Derek replaced his mouth with his hands as he went for a kiss that made Stiles tremble under him as he came. When he recovered he took off his wrinkled and soiled shirt and sat on the bed, with his legs open and Derek still between them to unbuckle his own belt this time, “let me help with that.”

Derek simply nodded and kissed him again while Stiles’ hands pulled the jeans and underwear down, taking time to grab and squeeze as he liked. They fumbled to get the clothes out of the way and Stiles pulled him closer to keep kissing as he took Derek between his hands.

Derek breathed out in his mouth and bit on Stiles’ lower lip, sucking on it. “I-…”

“Mmm?” Stiles asked a little distracted.

“I’d… like to-“ Derek kept kissing as if he could do both things at the same time. When he noticed he couldn’t, he took a moment to elaborate, “Would you like me to-“

“There’s condoms in the drawer, I think.” Stiles said, distractedly pointing at the general direction of a night table on his right, “wait, let me… check.” He would be lying if he said he didn’t want this man inside him in the next two minutes, really. He didn’t scream yes just because he thought Derek would laugh at his overenthusiastic response.

Stiles left him there aching to go check his drawer, his pulse making him too aware of his erection now. When he saw that the other couldn’t manage to find the condoms and everything, he groaned, taking himself to look for a little relief.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have any.” Derek breathed between his teeth, almost laughing at his bad luck.

“I’m pretty sure I had some- ah! Here!” Stiles smiled back at him showing a pack of three condoms and a bottle of lube. He ripped one from the others and went back to Derek, giving him a sweet peck on the lips, “you sold yourself short, I’m having a great time so far,” he handed Derek the condom.

“I’m a little surprised myself.” Derek said, which made Stiles laugh. He smiled back at the younger, kissing him again. He couldn’t help himself, Derek was so comfortable he felt like he had to kiss him every time he could. This was so much easier than he had thought. Maybe he had been overthinking it.

It was true that he hadn’t done this in a while, more than a while, and he was quite sure Stiles’ easiness in bed had a lot to do with his new-found confidence. He wanted to make Stiles feel good, he wanted to do this again, multiple times, as long as he could possibly keep it up. He wanted to make Stiles moan loud in his mouth and with his lips apart, wet and sore with his kisses.

He kissed Stiles’ shoulder and neck and cheek after he kissed his lips and gestured to make him turn around. He figured it would be easier and he had been wanting to kiss the moles he was sure Stiles had on his back.

He wasn’t wrong, there were several freckles running down from his nape to his shoulder blade, which he kissed as he put the condom on and opened the lube to coat his fingers. As he kissed the dark spots he nibbled, making the other jump and giggle a little. It sounded like Stiles wasn’t so used to being kissed there, judging by the way his body responded to his beard scratching the skin and how he breathed out heavily when Derek’s mouth reached his nape.

Stiles threw his head back to give Derek some access to his neck from behind and felt his fingers massaging him slowly, which made him bite on his lip. He imagined his nape and neck full of marks thanks to Derek’s beard and mouth and felt a tug on his lower stomach in anticipation when Derek’s fingers did a special motion inside of him.

He moaned louder when that movement increased, and pushed back to tease and provoke Derek to do more. “Here, here,” he whimpered, turning his head as much as he could to get a kiss from Derek. He licked the other’s lips and let him bite them again. He realized Derek enjoyed biting him in multiple places leaving faint marks on him so he would indulge him as much as he liked.

Stiles guided Derek’s free hand in front of him to stroke him again, which felt really nice since Derek’s fingers were also coated with lube. Derek had big and strong hands that Stiles was growing very fond of, especially now.

“You okay?” Derek asked from behind, taking advantage of that position to stimulate Stiles’ prostate and kiss every available inch of skin he managed.

Stiles nodded and encourage him to keep moving his fingers until he breathed a raspy “okay” when he felt ready and turned around again to face Derek.

Derek dragged Stiles with one swift movement to the edge of the bed, and as he stood between his legs Stiles put one on Derek’s shoulder and used the other to tug him closer. He smirked when Derek licked his lips and stared at his legs one more time.

He was going to use Derek’s previous statement about liking his legs forever.

Derek positioned himself to make it easier, putting a pillow under Stiles’ back to prompt him up and after kissing one of his legs he finally took place and entered the younger, slow and patiently, taking his time to enjoy that first feeling of warmth and absolute pleasure, enhanced by Stiles’ face, which express the same.

Stiles used his leg to make Derek push harder, and when the other got confirmation he started moving in a consistent pace, dragging moans from Stiles and himself. Stiles sometimes opened his eyes to look at Derek, to make sure of two things: one, to check this was still real and not another dream; and two, to see if Derek was still enjoying it.

Which he was, judging by the intense look of his eyes.

When he started to go faster, Derek put both Stiles’ legs around his waist and pulled him up a little with his arm under the other, he needed to kiss him again, to taste his lips and feel his moans inside his mouth.

Stiles put his hands around Derek’s neck as he kept pounding into him, faster and deeper now. By doing that the angle changed a bit and made him scream. Stiles screamed loud and Derek smirked in realization as he continued his movements in that new position.

Stiles started moaning random words at him, inciting him to go harder and faster, so much that his hands slipped from the other’s neck and fell back on the bed again. It wasn’t so long before Derek moaned his name and lowered himself to keep doing it on his neck now, nibbling and licking the place as he came inside him still moving now more erratically.

He didn’t wait long before he stroked Stiles a few more times to help him come a second time that night, Stiles hugged him with his legs and arms to keep him close, he never wanted to let go, even as filthy as they would feel in a moment.

“I can’t move but I want to do that again already,” Stiles breathed, Derek’s head still buried in his neck. They were covered in sweat and breathing hard and yet Stiles had never felt so good before.

Derek’s hands were roaming on Stiles’ thigh, tickling a little. He kissed Stiles’ ear and mumbled, “me too,” before falling on the bed by his side to let him breath, “give me a couple of minutes first.”

They stayed there for a while, looking at the ceiling and laughing at stupid comments from each other, it felt like they had been doing it for months.

“How do you feel?” Derek asked.

“Utterly fucked, thank you.” Stiles said sincerely, “you?”

“Drained.” Derek laughed again, Stiles hadn’t seen him doing that so much. “You’ll have to give me a few more minutes.”

“Come here.” Stiles moved up to the one pillow left on his bed and made Derek make himself comfortable there before he laid by his side. Derek pushed him closer even when they were still covered in sweat and kissed one more time.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered to Stiles’ mouth.

“If you go away after I fall asleep, I’m going to kill you and never spread my legs for you again.” The younger murmured half joking. He was now not-so-secretly scared the other would go while he slept and he didn’t want that, he wanted to feel Derek there with him when he woke up.

“I can’t move and I promised a second round.” He appreciated Stiles’ honesty, it wasn’t like he really wanted to go to his place any time soon but what if he woke up and felt like he should leave? Now he knew he didn’t have to and he closed his eyes completely relaxed and hugging Stiles, who was already falling asleep with a smile on his face.

They woke up a few hours later and Stiles rode him slow in the dark room while Derek moaned and tried to touch and kiss his neck, following the warm traces he had left there after the first time. Stiles looked lovely on top of him, moving like he knew exactly what made Derek feel more pleasure and placing his hands where it would help him increase the friction.

Derek went down on him again and took his time to actually kiss and lick his legs in a way that made Stiles moan his name over and over until his voice was hoarse and he laid spent when the orgasm came, pressing his thighs with Derek’s head between them and grasping the sheets under him.

They fell asleep again when the light of dusk coming into the room with a dark grey light and a slight chill made them arrange what was left of the sheet to cover each other. Stiles let Derek put his head on his stomach while he caressed his hair and they closed their eyes to the sound of early cars outside and the soft laugh they both let out when they realized they were completely relaxed.

**

 

Derek could feel Stiles' fingers moving on his arm, which woke him up with a smile on his face. Stiles was facing the other way but resting on his extended arm, moving his own slowly towards his wrist and fingers. Derek didn’t really remember how they had changed position but he could see the other's back, covered in moles and freckles and now with small and soft red spots along his nape, spots that he had left there last night. He remembered Stiles whispering his name and guiding his hands on his body, encouraging to keep touching; he remembered how Stiles had let out a breathy laugh when he had kissed his neck from behind, scratching him a little with his beard; and his voice as Derek kissed those legs wrapped around his shoulders.

He got closer to Stiles and put his other arm around his waist to kiss him right where some of the marks were. Stiles moved a little but didn't turn around just yet to enjoy the kisses.

"I’ll say yes to your invitation, if it's still up and it's not too late to RSVP." Stiles said in a low voice, as if afraid of scaring Derek away.

He did have to think for a second about what Stiles meant, he had been thinking about something entirely different of course. After repeating the words in his head he realized what Stiles was referring to.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'd love to be your plus one, if you're okay with that."

"I'm okay with that." Derek answered quickly, kissing the back of Stiles' ear, who now turned around to face him. They kissed in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm a little nervous to meet your family, though, I feel like everyone's going to laugh at me for-"

"No one is going to laugh, I promise, I'm pretty sure they'll tease me and ask you a hundred questions. And you're going to be able to watch me humiliate myself dancing to a waltz in public."

"You're going to be great, this is your teacher speaking."

"No offense but right now you don’t sound like the most objective party here.”

Stiles smirked and sat up to straddle Derek's hips, allowing him to touch his legs while he went for a kiss. "I'm objective and I say you'll do well."

"Dancing with Laura is very weird and awkward, I'm sure I'll trip or something and everyone will be watching..." he forgot his nervousness for a moment when Stiles started kissing his ear and neck, and he had the opportunity to touch more skin.

"Or, you know, do what everyone says and imagine the guests all naked."

"Funny you say that… the only naked person I can imagine is you," Derek said, which made Stiles laugh when he stood up and pushed him into the mattress.

"That could work too," Stiles told him as he laughed. Derek started kissing down his neck, caressing his legs in a way that turned his laugh into moans until they fell on the mattress breathing heavily and smiling like idiots. Again.

"I... have to go pick my daughter..." Derek breathed out, looking around to force himself to get up.

Stiles felt a turn in his stomach when he remembered Malia, for a moment he had forgotten that saying yes to Derek’s invitation implied that he had to talk to her first. “You’re gonna talk to her soon?”

Derek looked at him and smiled, feeling Stiles’ anxiety, “yeah, I’ll do it as soon as I can.” Stiles nodded and Derek kissed him again. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You can’t possibly know that.”

“I know that she likes you a lot and she’s smart. And we’re lucky she’s not a teenager yet, that’d be very much like a nightmare.”

“Let us cross that bridge when we get there.” Stiles joked and Derek stood up to collect his clothes. “Take a shower with me.”

Derek had to ponder that possibility for a solid couple of seconds before he declined, he would be very late if he said yes. “Sorry, I promised lunch with my parents and I still have to go home first, I’ll shower there.”

“Fine, go take a boring shower alone,” Stiles teased as he also got up to put pants on.

“We could do that some other day.” Derek finished putting his shirt on and pulled Stiles closer to him.

“Sure.” Stiles gave him one last kiss before Derek headed to the door. “You’ll call after you tell her? If it doesn’t go horribly wrong?”

“I’ll tell you if my six-year-old daughter ends up wanting to kill you, yes.” He smiled at Stiles’ rolled eyes. “I’ll call if it goes either way. Though I think you’re worrying too much.”

Stiles saw Derek leaving to the elevator tapping his fingers on the threshold, thinking of all the ways that conversation could end up with Malia saying she didn’t want Stiles near her dad.

**

 

“You look like you want to confess to a crime, bro.” Cora sat in front of him looking at him almost without blinking.

Derek had asked Laura if he could visit on Wednesday so he could talk to her about an important issue, he hadn’t said it over the phone but he wanted to tell her he was bringing Stiles to the wedding if that was okay and to ask them to keep it quiet until he talked to Malia.

Cora had just wanted to be there because she was nosy and Kira was on a road trip for the next two days, Derek supposed it was fine as long as she didn’t tell Malia; they would all know by the end of the week anyway.

Laura was pretty busy with the finishing details of the wedding and Alex said hi from the background when he announced he was almost done and would join them in a minute.

“It’s not a crime and I hope you’re happy for me.”

Cora squinted her eyes and it only took her three seconds to guess, she reached to punch him in the arm, making Derek roll his eyes. “You’re getting laid!” he shrugged in response.

“Why are you even here?”

“My girlfriend is out of town and I’m a sad asshole without her,” she deadpanned, “who is it? Do I know him? Her? Them?”

“Him.” Derek couldn’t help smiling a little at that, for some reason the fact that he was soon going to tell his sisters about Stiles made him a little smug.

Cora opened her mouth to say something else but she stopped abruptly, apparently figuring out what Derek’s little smile meant. “Did you…? Bro, Stiles?! You finally did it?!”

Derek stared at her in disbelief, he hadn’t said a word. “How did you even-”

“Why else would you look so damn proud of yourself? You’ve been pinning for weeks.” Cora waved at him, “When? What did you do? Did you make out in during your Waltz lessons? That sounds so lame.”

Derek let her keep asking but barely answered any questions, he didn’t want to tell the whole story twice so he waited until Laura sat by the youngest Hale’s side, arching her eyebrows in curiosity when she noticed Cora was asking a lot of questions. She signaled Alex to come sit with them.

“Tell me, little brother, end my suffering, I’ve been trying to figure out what you want to talk about since your call.”

“She woke me up today and asked if you had called again and accidentally spill it out.” Alex said with a smile, Derek just rolled his eyes once again and felt a little sorry for his brother-in-law.

“Derek manned up and he’s dating Stiles!”

“ _What?_ The cute teacher?” Laura’s eyes were going to pop out, Derek swore, and let her ask away until they gave him a second to answer. “Tell me!! Oh my god, are you going to bring him to the wedding? Does Malia know? How do you train your kids to keep secrets like that? I’m asking for a friend.”

“Malia doesn’t know, so first of all I want you to keep it to yourselves until I talk to her, please.” Derek asked, looking at both of them and getting an immediate nod from them including Alex, “and before you start thinking of ways to tease him about… what happened with that misunderstanding we had, don’t, he’s really worried and I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s so cute, Alex, look at him, all protective boyfriend already.” Laura grabbed her fiancé’s arm.

“No problem, Kira made me promise I wouldn’t laugh at him if we saw each other again. I’m trying to be a better human being, you see?”

“I’m not gonna say anything but I _will_ ask him to make you dance,” Laura pointed at him as if Derek was a child who had to obey her, “it’s my wedding, Derek, you have to dance with your boyfriend and let us take cute pictures.”

“I’m gonna dance with you and make myself look like a fool in the process, isn’t that enough?”

“No.” Cora and Laura answered at the same time.

“Whatever, do I have your word on what I asked?”

“Sure, Derek, but tell us everything! What did you do? Did you run to an airport and declared your love in front of strangers or something?”

“You’re ridiculous.” Derek told Cora, “I asked Lydia for help, she let me wait for him after a performance, after we talked that day, Kira, you and me.”

“Hey, it’s been weeks after that, you asshole have been keeping it from us!”

“Shh, let him talk!” Laura shushed Cora.

“We talked.”

Cora, Laura and now also Alex were raising an eyebrow at him in disbelief and Derek felt a little trapped.

“Okay, you talk talked, or you know… ‘ _talked’_.” Laura put emphasis in the last word, making Derek frown.

“You’re getting married next week and you can’t say ‘have sex’?” Derek kept going before anyone jumped to inappropriate conclusions, now Alex was leaning into the table listening carefully and very entertained. “I just kissed him and what has happened after that is none of your business.”

He couldn’t shut them up for the next half hour, Alex served him coffee, patted his shoulder and laughed when the Hale siblings started bickering again, very much used to it by now. Derek felt relieved now, though, even if the hardest part was going to be attending to the wedding with Stiles by his side and dance with his sister.

And of course, telling Malia in a few hours.

He picked Malia from her friend Debbie’s house later and took her home, nervously tapping on the steering wheel while the little girl looked out the window and told him how amazing Debbie’s toys were and that she did pretty paintings and then stuck them on her wall. She had helped her with some and Derek actually noticed she had blue paint and glitter in her hair.

“Debbie’s mom said you guys had fun.”

“We did, Daddy!”

“Aunt Laura, Alex and Cora sent kisses and they want to see you soon, after dance lesson on Saturday.”

“Uncle Alex said we could go for ice cream.”

“We could.” Derek helped her out of the car and took her hand to walk to the elevator. When they reached the floor and entered the apartment he took a deep breath and told himself everything was going to be okay, she would like the idea.

Malia took her shoes off and left her backpack there, she had only took a few steps when Derek asked her to stay, because he had to talk to her about something important.

“Am I in trouble?” Malia asked, she look instantly scared.

“No, kitty, you’re not, you’ve been doing great these past few months. Come here.” Derek patted the couch by his side and Malia sat with him. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay,” she crossed her legs and faced Derek.

“I was uh… wondering if you would like it if you and me invited Stiles for ice cream. What do you say?”

“Stiles? Really? Yes! He said once he likes mint chocolate ice cream!” she brightened up at the mere mention of Stiles’ name, which made Derek smile, a little more confident about it.

“That’s great. I’ll talk to him.”

“Why? Daddy?”

“You like Stiles, don’t you? You think he’s cool?”

“Yes! He’s teaching us another dance and I like the song,” she smiled and went to sit on Derek’s lap. She tended to do that when she got excited about something, she started climbing on his back and grabbing his beard to have his full attention, “and he’s so cool!”

“I think he’s cool too.”

“You like him, daddy? He’s awesome!”

Derek was sure Malia wasn’t asking what he thought she was asking but either way he smiled and nodded, “I like him.”

“Daddy, let’s ask him now!”

He supposed Stiles could agree but he hadn’t said anything yet, so he put her down for a moment, “Can I tell you something, kitty?”

“Mmm?”

“Stiles and I are dating.”

Malia frowned, not fully understanding the concept, and Derek had to clear his throat and think of better words to explain before he did something bad.

“You know how Cora and Kira spend time together and hold hands and go on dates?”

“Yes,” Malia answered, playing with a lock of her between her fingers, “they’re girlfriends.”

“That’s it, just like them.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” The expression on her face told Derek absolutely nothing and it made him anxious.

“Yes.” He answered straight away.

“Okay.” Malia smiled at him, no weird face, no bad reaction, no ‘I don’t want him with us, Daddy!’. Relief started to come but in small, very small waves. “Can we ask him to go for ice cream now?”

Derek took a second to smile at his wonderful daughter and nodded, “are you okay, baby?”, after Malia started jumping to climb on his shoulders he took his phone out, “I’ll ask if he’s free now.”

“Call him, Daddy! I want cookie ice cream!”

He struggled to text Stiles with Malia’s hands on his beard and eyes but he sent a quick text to him.

_“So, that went well.”_

Stiles answered in a few minutes, was probably busy.

Stiles S.: _“omg derek, what did she say? who did you tell first? Whatever I want to know about Malia first.”_

Derek could almost hear him asking that.

Mr. Hale: _“She’s asking if you want to go for ice cream now. If you’re free, I think it’s a good idea.”_

Stiles S.: _“I’ll be done in 15. Where do you want me to meet you?”_

Stiles was probably nervous but it was impossible to know via text so he just answered with Malia’s favorite ice cream place and told him not to worry.

Mr. Hale: _“And believe me, she’s okay, she’s excited and remembers what kind of ice cream you like. I didn’t know that, by the way.”_

Stiles S.: _“I trust you. I’ll be there in 20.”_

Mr. Hale: _“See you there.”_

“He’s going to meet us at Scarlet’s, put your shoes on and I’ll pick a jacket for you.”

“Yay! Ice cream!” Malia went running to the entrance to put her shoes back on and hurried him so they would get there as soon as they could.

They arrived before Stiles did but the place was rather empty at five o’clock so they went to find a seat first and when Derek was taking Malia’s jacket off she spotted Stiles and frantically waved at him. Stiles smiled at them and got closer.

Malia jumped from Derek’s side and went for a hug that Stiles was happy to give. “Hi, princess! I missed you!”

“Daddy said we could eat ice cream! I want cookie ice cream, come!” she was too excited to be seeing Stiles outside the Academy to care about something else so she took his hand to guide him to the counter and make their order. Derek closely followed and whispered a ‘hello’ into Stiles’ ear when Malia was pointing at her favorite ice cream flavor.

They received their order and went to sit at the same table since it remained empty. Stiles gave looks to Derek as if wanting to ask him for permission or something but he just laughed at Malia’s attempt to lick the ice cream from the rim of the blue paper cup.

Stiles could only watch them and find them endearing, Derek looked his best when he was being a father for her daughter, and his eyes did that thing that made Stiles’ stomach feel fluttery. He was soft and gentle with her when he pushed her hair behind her back so she wouldn’t get ice cream on it and cleaned her cheeks when she asked. _This man_.

Stiles was relieved Malia had apparently taken it great and had even asked to get ice cream together, but there was his insecurity not letting him talk as much as he usually did. He ate his ice cream in almost complete silence, except from when Derek asked him stuff and let them both try from his cup.

“Daddy, you hold hands with Stiles?” she asked when Stiles gave Derek ice cream with his spoon.

They looked at each other and Stiles felt his face slightly blush.

“We will.” Derek answered that but didn’t dare to touch his hand just yet.

They hadn’t noticed they hadn’t held hands because they didn’t have any opportunity to do it, but since Malia knew, Stiles hoped that would happen soon.

“M, you know, Stiles is going to come with us to the wedding.”

Malia looked at Stiles, who smiled shyly, not sure how to react until she started asking him questions. “Do you want to dance with me? Are you going to dance with Daddy? You’re his teacher too, you can help him.”

“I’m gonna see him dance with Laura and then I’m gonna make him dance with me.”

“Why does everyone want me to be ridiculed so hard?”

“What is ridi- ridicuuule?” Malia asked confused.

“It’s what’s going to happen if they keep pressuring me to dance more than once.” Derek stuffed his face with ice cream, which made Malia laugh.

“Then Malia is going to be my dance partner.” Stiles said and offered his hand for a high five, Malia immediately responded.

It was easier after that, Stiles felt more relaxed while Derek and he waited until Malia said she couldn’t have more ice cream. He smiled when he noticed a woman looking at Derek and Malia, probably thinking what a handsome dad Derek was and completely ignoring Stiles. It wasn’t surprising really, Stiles was used to only getting attention when he was dancing on a stage, not off of it. He must have done something because Derek touched his arm with a soft caress and asked if he was okay.

“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry.” He was going to ask if Derek had told him something he hadn’t caught but then he heard Malia giggling with her hands on her mouth.

“Daddy you’re holding hands now,” she said covering her cheeks in the cutest possible way. Stiles only then realized Derek’s hand was on his. They didn’t put them away when they saw it wasn’t a problem for Malia and Derek even closed his fingers a bit, just to reassure him silently.

He figured it was going to be just fine, the weird feeling in his stomach settled when Malia seemed fine and not upset and Derek looked happy and relaxed, which was one of Stiles’ priorities.

He somewhat was now fighting to keep these two people as happy as he could possibly make them, for as long as they would let them. And Stiles thought it was the most natural thing in the world.

Derek offered his hand when they went out of the ice cream shop, and he took it after Malia sat safely on her father’s shoulder while telling them how her hair was going to look super pretty for the wedding. Stiles caressed Derek’s hand with his thumb and resisted the urge to kiss him, thinking that maybe he could do this many other times and the three of them walked slowly without a real destination in mind but fully enjoying the time together.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How had he gotten so lucky? Derek had been asking himself that question for days. How had he found someone who not only liked him but also his daughter, who was so incredibly amazing that had helped Malia overcome a bit of her uneasiness, who had done so much for them in such a short period of time?  
> He sighed and kept looking at them. The song changed and they both giggled like they were sharing an inside joke."
> 
> [The cliché "There's a wedding by the end of this story" chapter]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this end; and I honestly thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the time you waited for this. I wished I was in a better mood to give you this with all the energy and happiness it should have but I haven't had the best of the weeks.  
> I just want you all to enjoy and like this. As always, thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate every single word you write for me. Thank you all.

The wedding had been beautiful. Laura looked incredible in her dress and her fiancé –husband- was very nice. After the ceremony, Stiles had noticed some other Hales coming to say hi and Derek politely introducing them until they reached a tall beautiful woman with long black hair that looked a little intimidating.

Talia Hale said hello to them and shook Stiles’ hand, smiling and telling him how good he looked with that suit. Her husband, Alec, also said hello and teased Derek saying he giggled like a teenager. He had also grabbed his hand and shaken it with a big smile on his face, bringing him down a bit to his height to look at him directly and pat his shoulder, as if he had known Stiles for years. He felt immediately welcomed by him, he was a very friendly and warm person who kind of reminded Stiles of Scott.

They would be sitting with Cora and Kira in the same table so he didn’t feel so out of place with someone he actually knew. Kira was wonderful company and Cora played with Malia while everyone said proper congratulations on the microphone and asked guests to gather to see and Derek’s hand rested on his back, looking for support without saying a word. He looked nervous and when he heard the call for the First Dance, he looked at Stiles for encouragement.

“Just do what we agreed on, you’re gonna be just fine.”

Derek had finally said some days ago it would make him feel better if he imagined they were dancing together and Stiles nodded and kissed him as they tried to practice in Stiles’ living room for the fifth time.

“Daddy, good luck!” Malia gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Stiles did the same, just a quick peck that nobody really saw.

Derek went to his father, who looked so moved by his kids doing what he had asked his eyes looked glassy and he couldn’t stop smiling. They shared a moment and then Derek went to wait for his turn with Laura, as the music started and the newlyweds started dancing to a classical piece of Waltz.

Stiles could see they were amateurs but it didn’t make it any less cute and emotional, they were smiling the whole time and Alex said something that made Laura laugh into his shoulder. He quickly glanced at Derek who was still standing with his mother, who caressed his cheek in such a motherly way Stiles’ heart hurt a little.

He thought Malia was going to go see everything to the front but she stayed with Stiles and Kira, smiling big and clapping when husband and wife finished their First Dance.

Laura went to get Derek, who pressed his lips helplessly and immediately took position to star their dance. If Stiles watched carefully, he could see Derek’s trembling hand on his sister’s back.

They moved fluidly, nothing overly complicated, Derek had told Stiles they practiced some spins and turns so it wouldn’t be boring but nothing fancy because it was already a miracle that he had been able to process all those steps.

Stiles made him practice with him at his apartment one last time the day before, and -even when Derek kept lowering his hand to touch his butt and asking when he could dance like he did that other time for him- he had done pretty well and hadn’t stepped on his toes once.

He was proud, his chest felt big with content and just looking at his boyfriend dancing with more confidence now filled him with such happiness that he swore his eyes were going to start watering.

A short look at the Hale parents told him that they were both as touched as he was –more, of course-. Talia’s arms were circling Alec’s shoulder, kissing his cheek and smiling, telling him something about Derek and Laura probably.

Everyone else clapped when it was time for other people to start dancing too and Stiles quickly asked Malia to come closer, “Princess, go ask your daddy for a dance! We’ve practiced!” he winked and the little girl nodded enthusiastically and went running to get Derek.

“Nice, man.” Cora tapped his shoulder as she sat on Kira’s right. Her eyes were glassy even though Stiles knew better than to tease her for that. “You’re a good teacher.”

“Thank you, I’ve been told.”

“And you owe me one dance,” Kira pointed at her with her free hand, she was recording part of the dance.

Stiles got distracted as he saw Derek dancing with Malia, who was standing on his shoes. They looked adorable and Stiles smiled, still not believing he could feel like that for those two people.

Alec was now dancing with Laura and Alex with his mother, and quickly most of the guests had a moment before the music changed to a calmer one to guide them to the tables.

Derek walked to him with Malia and she was skipping, her braid bouncing on her shoulder with the flowers in it firmly placed. She looked beautiful and happy. Stiles suddenly remembered how she had been so nervous and shy those first few times at his classes, now she not only was able to dance with all the kids but she had also made friends and felt more comfortable around them.

“You were great,” Stiles told Derek, who sat on a chair that was slightly behind him so the older put his chin on Stiles’ shoulder to hear him properly. Stiles also gave him a kiss on the cheek as a reward and Derek surprisingly turned his face to get a second one but on the lips.

“I feel weird now, my knees were trembling.”

“You get used to it.” He pulled back a little when Malia sat on Derek’s lap, still not sure he should be displaying so much affection towards her dad, he supposed it could be weird for her so he didn’t do it so much.

“Stiles, do you want to dance with me?” she asked in a lower voice. She was blushing a little and it made her so endearing Stiles had to take her hand to reassure her.

“When the music starts again I will dance with you, Princess.” He turned to them now, “you looked adorable dancing together and I didn’t take pictures!”

Kira showed her phone with a victory smile and said, “I did! The photographer also took a ton of pictures, Laura made him do it.”

Derek rolled his eyes but Stiles knew he was going to ask for all those pictures afterwards.

“M, let’s go for juice, let daddy show off his newly acquired ability to dance in public to Stiles.” Cora offered Malia a hand and as the little girl struggled to ask what ‘acquired’ meant, she took her to the server with different kinds of juice.

Derek took his hand and kissed it. “I want to kiss you.”

Stiles indulged him just because everyone was minding their own business as Laura and Alex walked around taking pictures with the guests.

“You did great, I mean it.” Stiles whispered into Derek’s lips.

“It’s all thanks to you.” Derek was going to kiss him again but Stiles turned his face.

“Sorry, this might be weird coming from me but I feel a little self-conscious with your entire family around us.”

“They’re looking at me, I hadn’t brought a date to anything in years, really.”

“I’m so honored.” Stiles was now caressing Derek’s hand on his thigh, “but I’m a stranger to them, more importantly your Mom, she’s a little terrifying, and it doesn’t help that I feel I should thank her for all the times we’ve had sex.”

“That’d be very weird.”

Stiles nodded, but as weird as it might sound, he still mentally thanked her for that last time two days ago when Derek had time to stop by and blow his mind off on the kitchen cabinet.

“She’s sure we wouldn’t be able to see each other unless she goes to pick Malia from school herself… I’m not mad, anyway. And there are dozens of people with unknown dates, it’s a wedding.”

“You’re right, I guess.” Stiles let Derek come closer to him and put one arm across his back.

It felt really good to be in Derek’s arms like that but Stiles quickly pulled away again as an older and very elegant woman got closer to them, obviously to talk to Derek who stood up to greet her and her companion, a younger man with blond hair that reminded Stiles of Isaac.

“Derek, congratulations, that was an adorable dance with Laura,” the woman –Aunt Marissa- said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “it’s good to see you with some arm candy!”

Stiles was sure she didn’t mean to make it sound as bitchy as it did, but Derek took his hand and refused to let it go.

“This is my boyfriend, Stiles.”

When he was introduced, Stiles smiled and shook her hand and the man by her side who happened to be her son. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, dear boy!” she answered but quickly turned her eyes to Derek again, “it’s so nice that you finally brought someone! I was beginning to wonder if you would ever go back to that awful woman-“

“Mother, let’s go find Talia.” The man politely interrupted before she could keep going and Stiles was thankful as he felt Derek tense by his side.

The man lead his mother in another direction and mouthed a very obvious “I’m sorry” to Derek, who nodded in acceptance but didn’t let Stiles’ hand go.

“Sorry about that, she’s always saying things- uh, things.” Derek told him now looking at him, visibly uncomfortable. “You’re not arm candy.”

“Are you saying I’m not attractive?” he joked to make Derek relax. It apparently worked because the older smiled sweetly at him.

“You’re incredibly attractive and you look great in that tux.” In perfect timing, the lights went down again and the music to dance started to play again. Derek pulled him closer and whispered, “Will you take it off for me later?”

Stiles smirked and bit his lower lip, “what’s with you and me undressing in front of you?” he had learned in a short time that it was one of Derek’s kinks and Stiles was all for indulging his boyfriend whenever he could. He also knew that Derek’s parents were taking Malia with them for the night after insisting on it the day before and Derek had accepted just because it would be uncomfortable to let Stiles drive back to his place since he didn’t dare to stay with Derek and Malia just yet. Stiles felt too embarrassed to know that Talia and Alec were officially enabling them without even knowing Stiles but his dad didn’t raise an ungrateful asshole.

“I like it as much as you like to be picked up.” Derek said smugly.

“What a smartass.” Stiles snorted when people were still standing up to go to the dance floor.

“But really, sorry about my aunt, she’s always like that and Ben goes around apologizing for her whenever she says something like that.”

He let the question about that ‘awful woman’ rest. It would do no good to ask and it wasn’t the time to do it anyway, maybe Derek could tell him about it when he was ready. He knew it wasn’t someone so important, Derek had said before how he had been single for a very long time before him.

“It’s fine, I know. I have an uncle who’s always being inappropriate. It’s something about baby boomers who think they’re entitled to say rude shit all the time without any consequences.”

Before Derek could answer to that, they were interrupted by Malia pulling at Stiles’ hand shyly.

“I was waiting for you, partner!” Stiles took her hand and led her to the dance floor after waving at Derek, who sat happily at the table where Cora also was sitting with Kira.

Derek looked at them with a certain feeling of pride, especially as he looked around and saw many relatives smiling at Stiles and Malia, pointing at them and almost clapping at their fun moves; Derek had changed her into more comfortable shoes after the ceremony so she could play around and dance so she quickly followed Stiles’ steps. His daughter looked comfortable and entertained and honestly Derek could not ask for anything else.

How had he gotten so lucky? Derek had been asking that question for days. How had he found someone who not only liked him but also his daughter, who was so incredibly amazing that had helped Malia overcome a bit of her uneasiness, who had done so much for them in such a short period of time?

He sighed and kept looking at them. The song changed and they both giggled like they were sharing an inside joke.

“You’re so disgustingly into this guy, baby bro.” Derek had been so focused he hadn’t noticed Laura and her wedding dress taking a seat by his side. “It’s very cute.”

“Look at them dancing, it’s like they’ve known each other for years.” Derek said patting his sister’s shoulder, she looked a little tired but happy; her hair was in place and her make-up was still perfect but he could see in her eyes that she wouldn’t be able to last a couple more hours.

“He is great, seriously.” Laura gave him a look that made Derek smile in return. He felt so happy that he wanted to laugh, which was very much not like him. “And thank you for doing this for me.”

“Hey, I got a boyfriend out of this, I’d say it’s a win-win.” Derek raised his glass to her, Laura did the same.

“M looks happy too, I’m glad. She was the cutest flower girl, I thought she would get scared in front of all the people.”

“My daughter is a much braver person than I am.”

Laura took his face into her hands and gave him a very loud kiss in the cheek, “thank you, and I wish you’re this happy for the rest of your life.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

“Sure, but I just got married and I feel like I’m like a fairy godmother or something. Look at the little kitten who’s coming our way.” Laura opened her arms and got a hug from Malia.

Stiles walked behind her and stood close to Derek, who felt the need to put his arms on his waist but didn’t do it. The younger man had removed the jacket and rolled up his sleeves, which did things to Derek and made his fingers itch to touch.

“Your dress is so pretty, Aunt Laura!” Malia jumped in excitement.

“Yours too! You did so well, baby, and I saw you dancing, you have to teach me some of those moves.”

“Stiles is a teacher!” she said as if she didn’t know Laura knew that particular piece of information.

“I think Stiles has had enough Hales learning how to dance.” Laura joked and winked at Stiles, who laughed in return, much more comfortable around her now.

“Daddy, come dance with us, yes?” she got close to Derek and climb into his lap, staring into his eyes like she could make him obey with a single look.

Derek didn’t say ‘no’ immediately, he didn’t have the heart to do it, not when his daughter was looking at him with those intense brown eyes she had.

“You know daddy can’t dance to save his life, kitty.” He said, foolishly thinking she’d let it go after one try.

“Please, please, daddy, please!” she said again, standing up in perfect equilibrium on his thighs.

Stiles was silently laughing in the back, as Laura was. Those bastards.

“I hope you keep asking me to dance with you when you’re in high school.” He stood up in defeat and walked with her and Stiles, who was smiling at him.

“I’ll be tall like you then?” she asked as they reached the dance floor and the beat of the music made others gather around too.

“According to Dr. Yeun you’ll be even taller.”

They danced to many songs. Or well, Stiles and Malia danced and Derek tried to follow, which made his daughter laugh and Stiles take his hand to encourage him. When the slow songs started, Malia asked to be picked up because she was tired and as she put her head on his shoulder, he took Stiles’ hand to follow the soft music in the background.

“Daddy, I’m sleepy.” Malia said in a whisper that only he could hear. He kissed her hair and told her that they were going home when the song stopped.

Stiles moved by his side following the rhythm and staying in his place, not really in his arms but still holding his hand and caressing his wrist.

When the song ended, Derek returned the gesture stroking the other’s face, and then they went back to their table where his parents were waiting already.

Malia was dozing off on Derek’s shoulder and kind of refused to let go for a second but then went and took place on Alec’s arms and lap.

“We’re taking her from here, keep enjoying, honey.” Talia said to Derek and smiled at Stiles.

“Thank you, I’ll pick her up tomorrow morning.”

“We’re not gonna give her up a minute before two p.m.” Alec said while she put his own jacket around Malia.

Derek rolled his eyes and kissed Malia’s sleepy face and whispered something to her, to which she silently nodded.

Stiles said goodbye to Talia and Alec and watched them go. They took drinks from the bar and went to sit with Cora and Kira that had been taking pictures together.

They joined them and –despite Derek’s reluctance- took some with the girls and let them take pictures of them too. Neither of them had pictures of the two together and it would be a great opportunity to save some.

Kira suddenly stood up and grabbed Cora’s hand, begging her to dance with her once more. “I love this song, please!”

“Why do you hate me so much?” Cora said rolling her eyes but standing up nonetheless. She didn’t look like Derek the same way that Laura did, but her gestures and body language were so similar that Stiles had to laugh.

“You’re the best girlfriend ever.” Kira smiled bright and Cora sighed but even under the dim light Stiles could see she was blushing a bit.

“You know what happens now, don’t you?” Stiles stood up and Derek obediently went after him, already accepting his fate as a long-suffering awkward dance partner, “come here.” Stiles guided Derek’s hands to his waist and kissed him lightly as he caressed his nape.

“Oh, _now_ you want to kiss me.” Derek answered, happily accepting the kiss, not even noticing they were moving to the slow song the DJ was playing, just like many other couples still enjoying the party.

“You said you weren’t going to dance anymore.” Stiles teased.

“I always want to dance with you,” he admitted and got another kiss.

“I’m holding you to those words for the rest of your life.”

Derek smiled again at the subtext, happy that he was there with this amazing man who stole not only his heart but also his daughter’s.

“So…” Stiles started, he suddenly looked a little unsure and Derek caressed his back in return.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, and then Stiles laughed nervously, he was being shy for some reason.

“I… want you to meet my family?” the younger finally said, his fingers playing with the neck of his dress shirt.

Derek didn’t say anything for a second and he wished he had, because Stiles immediately tried to explain, scared that he had misunderstood that.

“O-only if you want, I mean, it doesn’t have to be like now, I was thinking maybe in a few weeks. If, if you want- and it would be only my dad and Melissa, of course-“

“Stiles,” he interrupted him, “I’d love to.”

“Yes?” he asked, and when Derek nodded, Stiles sighed, “okay, great.”

“Why are you so nervous?”

“It’s been like roughly a month, I thought you’d say no.” Stiles shrugged, visibly more relaxed now.

“Frankly, I’m a little intimidated but, as Laura pointed out, I’m also really into you and you got a shockingly massive introduction to my entire family, so… I think I can handle it.”

Stiles laughed and they kept talking as they walked to the bar, “I just have two questions: first, exactly how many older boyfriends have you introduced to your parents; and second, should I wear a bulletproof vest?”

“Relax, Melissa is a nurse, you’ll be fine.” Stiles teased and winked at Derek. He didn’t say but it made him ridiculously happy that Derek looked so relaxed, even when he knew the other didn’t have much experience with being introduced to parents.

He never answered that he would be the first boyfriend to be introduced to both the Sheriff and Melissa. His father had known Cait and some other people he dated but only in casual occasions, nothing serious or formal. Stiles knew this would make Derek feel nervous so he didn’t mention it, but he was confident it would be okay, Melissa was the sweetest woman in the world and his father only wanted him to be happy and as long as he wasn’t doing stupid things, he was going to be okay with it.

He was curious though of how Sheriff Stilinski would react to Derek being a single father. Maybe he would relate? He had been raising Stiles all alone after his mother died, and well, he hadn’t been as young as Malia had been when she lost hers but he was still young and the Sheriff had to put up with a lot after Claudia died; nightmares, fits, bad behavior at school and hyperactivity were just a part of their lives after the funeral, and Stiles could only try and imagine how it had been for Derek with a small baby in his arms and only twenty years old.

He hugged Derek’s arm and kissed his cheek while they waited for their drinks to show appreciation and admiration, and Derek turned a little to ask if he was okay.

“You’ve been quiet for a while.”

“It’s a wonderful thing that _sometimes_ I get tired of talking.” Stiles answered as Derek put his arm around Stiles’ waist as they left their glasses on the table to dance a little more. There was a slow song playing in the background again.

Stiles put his arms around Derek’s neck the same way he was getting used to now and the other smiled at him and pulled him closer. He tried to move to the rhythm of the song but let Stiles lead in the end.

Derek figured he could do this the whole night and –if Stiles agreed- a lot longer than that. He whispered into the other’s ear that he wanted to take him home after that song and the younger nodded and winked at him, making Derek feel happier even when he thought he couldn’t.

“Thank you.” Derek whispered to Stiles, who raised his head to look at him.

“Why?”

“Because you dance with my daughter and make her happy.”

Stiles’ eyes got a little glassy and licked his lips, trying to find words to answer, but Derek kept going.

“For coming with me today and helping me learn and being okay with my family and all this going a little too fast to be comfortable to you,” he stopped for a second to caress the younger’s cheek, “I’m mostly trying to say thank you for caring about Malia so much that the first thing that made you nervous was the fact that she could find out in the wrong way and be upset about it.”

“I-“ Stiles tried to produce an answer again but he failed.

“And you’re making me incredibly happy because of that so… thank you.”

Stiles waited only one second before he planted a kiss on Derek’s lips, hugging him tight and forgetting they were among other couples dancing. When he pulled away Derek was smiling, his hair was all messy and Stiles could not wait to keep kissing him in private.

They stayed there though, dancing to a song he vaguely knew, surrounded by people and holding each other. Silently promising they would keep doing it for as long as they could.


End file.
